Climate Change Gets Initial Airing
February 04, 2009
Author: CFM Staff
 Print  Send to a Friend
Committees in the Oregon House and Senate kicked off this week the debate on state-level climate change legislation, amid a similar deliberation at the federal level that includes billions of dollars to invest in green industries and renewable energy.
In Salem, the main focus will be on Senate Bill 80, which would place a cap on carbon emissions and set in motion steps to allow Oregon to participate in a regional carbon offset trading system. Governor Kulongoski and environmentalists call SB 80 critical to the health and economy of Oregon. Business opponents warn it will add another heavy weight in their struggle to stay afloat in the current recession.
Passage of SB 80, even with a solid Democratic majority in the House and Senate, isn't a foregone conclusion. A handful of Democratic moderates in the Senate aren't on board, citing concerns about ceding too much authority to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and too little concrete information on how the trading system would work. Some say this is an issue that Congress should address, not the legislature.
President Barack Obama has expressed a strong interest in pursuing federal legislation, as early as this year, to cap greenhouse gases and institute some kind of trading system. Europe has employed a cap and trade system and the United States has used similar vehicles in programs to reduce other hazardous substances, such as mercury.
For Obama, addressing climate change is a key to reinventing the U.S. economy, concentrating on green jobs, which he says cannot be exported to other nations. Green industry, including incentives for renewable energy production and manufacturing wind turbines and solar cells, also is viewed by the Obama administration as a way to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
The debate in the state Capitol is likely to pivot on short-term concerns by businesses worried about increasing costs at a time when orders and sales are plummeting. Associated Oregon Industries urged as many businesses as possible to show up this week at the first public hearing on SB 80.
Earlier in the week, a sizable crowd formed to watch the first hearing on House Bill 2186, which gives the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission authority to set greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, including for transportation. Industry witnesses and several members of the committee expressed concern about the bill's cost to implement and unintended consequences because of what they called vague language. Some disliked giving a state agency too much authority. Others suggested carving the bill up into several pieces. Electric vehicle and renewable fuel manufacturers testified in favor of HB 2186.
CFM ONLINE
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
  |
|
|
City of Longview, Washington
Federal Affairs
When the City of Longview, Washington, needed to address a pending water shortage and funding shortfall, CFM helped...
Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
