Oregon Republicans replayed their favorite stunt, fleeing to deny the legislature a quorum to vote on Cap-and-Trade. OR Gov. Kate Brown vowed to implement one by Executive Order, and has followed through with measures even stronger than the dead bill.
Gov. Kate Brown Orders State Action On Climate Change
Oregon Republicans killed cap and trade this year. Now, they’ll have to contend with cap and reduce.
Closing a loop on a pledge she made last year, Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order Tuesday that aims to sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions with a full-court press by government agencies.
The 14-page order comes less than a week after a Republican walkout killed Senate Bill 1530, Democrats’ signature proposal for a cap-and-trade system in Oregon. It contains ambitions that are at once equal to and much broader than that bill.
Like SB 1530, Brown’s order updates the state’s carbon reduction goals, setting targets of a 45% reduction below 1990 levels by 2035, and an 80% reduction by 2050. But its path to those goals extends well beyond the regulations in the legislative proposal.
Note that the stated goal is an 80% reduction in all greenhouse gases, not just those from electricity production or cars. I would argue that Oregon and everybody else needs to get to Carbon Neutrality wll before then, and get well started on going Carbon Negative. But it's all right. There will be plenty of opportunities to improve the plan in the next 30 years.
Meanwhile, OR Republicans continue their freakout, as though Democrats will come to understand the moral rectitude of their greed if they just scream loud enough.
Timber Unity founder Jeff Leavy speaks at a Timber Unity rally at the Capitol in Salem, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 8, 2020.
The group is opposing cap-and-trade legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and demands, at minimum, the issue be brought to voters. Feb 13, 2020
TONIGHT, Democrats dropped a 177-page cap & trade amendment, leaving just HOURS before committee tomorrow to understand this horrible policy that will impact every corner of the state. Cap & trade isn't about the environment - it's a money grab for Democrat special interests.
The article doesn't put it in these terms, but cap-and-trade is one of the standard Pigovian methods for pricing externalities of economic activities. It is harder to do right and generally less effective than simply taxing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, but it can be made to work with sufficient sustained political will.
Even if HB 1530 disappeared, said Timber Unity members, the movement would remain active.
Baerschiger said the movement is now about fighting for a way of life, not just opposing a single bill. He said people in the Timber Unity movement are coming to the Capitol to stand for religious freedom, gun rights, working-class interests and other issues.
Oregon's Cap-and-Trade Program (HB2020): An Economic Assessment
Berkeley, CA 94709 www.bearecon.com. 4. Oregon's HB2020 Cap-and-Trade Policy: An Economic Assessment. Prepared for the Oregon Carbon Policy Office.
Feb 9, 2020—So many people flocked to the Oregon State Capitol to testify Saturday at a public hearing on a climate change bill that the allotted time for each to speak was reduced to 90 seconds.
As a large screen in Hearing Room C showed the seconds ticking off, loggers expressed concern that the bill would lead to increased costs and the demise of their business. Others, taking turns at occupying three seats before the Senate Committee On Environment and Natural Resources, said global warming was an emergency that was already affecting them and would affect their children and grandchildren even worse.
Oregon carbon gas cap-and-trade bill clears committee, Senate vote next week? … — Statesman Journal
Feb 13, 2020 — The compromise bill marks a decade of work by Democrats to pass a carbon cap.
Republicans, however, haven’t ruled out a walkout to deny the Senate a quorum, which derailed a similar bill last year. Opponents complained that the amendment, which changed eight pages of the 176-page bill, came fewer than 24 hours before the committee vote.
“The new amendment includes more than a dozen new provisions. Introducing such sweeping changes with so little time for lawmakers and the public to review them and to provide feedback on them is a disservice to the people of Oregon," Partnership for Oregon Communities said in a statement.
Oregon's cap-and-trade bill explained | Mail Tribune
Jul 2, 2019 - HB 2020 would have restricted the amount of carbon large-scale industrial emitters could produce (the “cap” component) to 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Businesses that emit amounts under the cap would be able to sell carbon credits to those who emit more (the “trade” component), Mote said. Over time, the credits available would decline, forcing producers across the state to reduce their emissions by 80% by 2050.
Policy – Oregon Business For Climate
Feb 3, 2020 - SALEM, Ore. — Democrats are pushing a revised version of the bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Senate Republicans walked out and shut down the session last year to block a similar bill, but Governor Kate Brown says environmental protection is one of her top priorities this year.
It is a priority 'Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network' fully supports.
'ORCAN' is a network of Oregon Agricultural Stakeholders. They say over 200 Oregon farmers and ranchers, including 38 here in Lane County are calling for strong climate action from legislators this session.
"Oregon's farmers are dealing with the effects of climate change right now,” said Megan Kemple, with ORCAN. “They are experiencing floods, droughts, extreme temperatures, smoke from wildfires they're becoming more concerned about the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods.”