Pat Whiting

Whiting served as Carl Duncan's student assistant. Duncan hired Whiting to work as a student secretary in the Field Studies Department office from 1964-66.[3] The two developed an admirable mentor-student relationship and Whiting became Duncan's "Goddaughter".[3] Duncan financial supported Whiting and her family, including Duncan's estate funding the college educations of Whiting's siblings and leaving his Menlo Park home to her in his will.[3]

First elected to the Oregon House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1973, Whiting served three terms as representative. Whiting was the only member from Metzger and the first Democratic woman from Washington County, Oregon to serve as well as the only Asian American elected to the House.[1][4] A year before her election, Whiting gave the keynote speech for the 37th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Mexico City, Mexico.[3] Whiting was a member of the Interim Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Energy, the Land Conservation and Development Commission and civilian representative to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee in Washington County.[5]

Whiting co-sponsored legislation to ban smoking tobacco products in public places, the first of its kind in Oregon.[6]

Whiting was a co-sponsor of the Oregon Bottle Bill, an effort intended to curb litter and pollution that first passed in 1971.[7]

Whiting co-sponsored legislation to establish Project Independence, a program that helps senior citizens age in place and maintain their autonomy.[8]

In her first year as representative, Whiting co-sponsored House Bill 2930, which would have made anti-LGBTQ discrimination illegal. The activist who authored the bill noted that legislators who sponsored HB2930 took a risk in their political careers.[4]

She wrote and helped to pass legislation that banned chlorofluorocarbon pollution that contributes to the depletion of the earth's stratospheric ozone layer, the first such legislation in the country. "In the area of national energy policy, our energy resource allocation, use, and depletion is now one of the major confrontations of our time," Whiting wrote.[9]

The legislation passed in 1975 and after the Oregon ban went into effect in 1977, 13 other states and Congress introduced similar proposals. The New York Times said that, "Oregon is an innovator in such environmental legislation.[10]

Whiting appeared on the Today Show in defense of the ban on chlorofluorocarbons.[5][11]

Whiting pushed the House to establish the Oregon Department of Energy and adopt an "Oregon Energy Policy" Archived 2019-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. Whiting wrote: "It is essential that future generations not be left a legacy of vanished or depleted resources, resulting in massive environmental, social and financial impact. The Oregon goal is to promote the efficient use of energy and to develop permanently sustainable energy resources."[12]

In the House of Representatives, Whiting was a member of the Oregon Women's Political Caucus, which worked to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Betty Roberts, who served with Whiting, and Gail Wells wrote, "We were a diverse group of Republicans and Democrats ranging in age from thirty to seventy-five, lawyers and housewives, office workers, social workers and union workers, most married but some not, with children from pre-school age to grown and out on their own. The convergence of these women in my committee room was no accident. Every one of us had spirit and a common purpose." The state was the 25th in the country to ratify the ERA.[13]

As a member of the Oregon Joint Legislative Committee, which oversaw the Land Conservation and Development Commission responsible for Land Use Planning Directives, Whiting advocated for preservation of open spaces and development of recreational land.[5] Whiting stated concern for the flood plain, urban sprawl, public transportation, congestion and population density, and the environmental toll of increased resource consumption.[5] As such, Whiting believed that a more "progressive attitude"[5] was necessary to address the "limited carrying capacity based on limited life support systems."[5] Whiting believed that the state of Oregon needed to conserve energy and invest in public transportation research.[5]