Oregon State Legislature : Carbon pricing bills introduced by bicameral legislators

OFFICE OF

SENATOR MICHAEL DEMBROW

Oregon State Legislature

State Capitol

Salem, OR

NEWS RELEASE

January 9, 2018

CONTACT: Rick Osborn [phone]

[e-mail]

Carbon pricing bills introduced by bicameral legislators

LC 44 is the product of work between Senate and House joint work group

SALEM - Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, is continuing efforts to reduce statewide carbon emissions through a cap and invest model with the Clean Energy Jobs Bill.

Dembrow and Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, both have introduced tandem legislation in each chamber based on the product of a bicameral workgroup focused on carbon pricing and clean energy. The bills establish a price per ton of emissions for the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the state and a plan to reinvest proceeds into projects to reduce pollution and bring job opportunities to economically distressed communities across Oregon.

"This is an opportunity to begin showing the people of this state and the rest of the nation that we take this issue seriously," Dembrow said. This also is an opportunity to strengthen our state's position as a clean energy leader, creating jobs for Oregonians living in the places that need them the most. For too long there has been a perceived competition between the environment and job creation in rural Oregon. I believe we can have both."

The Clean Energy Jobs bill is the result of a multi-year effort to engage a wide variety of stakeholders to find a comprehensive policy that addresses climate change pollution in Oregon while also strengthening the state's leadership in the clean energy economy and hastening the transition to low carbon intensity in every sector. Businesses, workers, communities of color, rural advocates, environmentalists, public health proponents and others have weighed in on the shaping of the bill and will continue in the process.

Dembrow and Helm - who both chair complementary environmental and natural resource-focused committees in the Senate and House - have been meeting with stakeholders and holding public hearings on this topic throughout the summer and fall. Numerous concerns brought forward by various stakeholder groups were addressed in the bill, following that public input process.

Currently labeled as Legislative Concepts 44 (Senate version) and 176 (House version), both will be unveiled at 8 a.m. on Jan. 10 at the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources meeting. Information about the concept is available online athttps://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017I1/Committees/SENR/2018-01-10-08-00/MeetingMaterials.

"The administration in Washington, D.C., has made no secret of a purposeful shift in policy to prop up fossil fuels and abdicate America's leadership in a 21st-Century economy," Dembrow said. "That's the wrong approach. In Oregon, we see the huge opportunity before us, both economically and in a leadership role. We're going to take it."

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