2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
Designs for executive action to limit greenhouse gas emissions
in Oregon have long been in the works, records show
TODAY
By Aubrey Wieber
Today is Monday, Aug. 26,
the 238th day of 2019. There
are 127 days left in the year.
Oregon Capital Bureau
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th
Amendment to the U.S. Consti-
tution, guaranteeing American
women’s right to vote, was
certifi ed in effect by Secretary
of State Bainbridge Colby
CORRECTION
The Aug. 23 article, “Young
‘Iron Chefs’ show off new
skills”, misstated the name of
one of the students in a cutline
on 2A. The correct name is
Gage Mathson.
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ROAD REPORT
Numbers to call:
• Inside Oregon: 800-977-6368.
• Outside Oregon: 503-588-2941.
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MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019
LOCAL
For more than a year, Gov.
Kate Brown’s environmental
agency has been assessing
how the governor could man-
date lower greenhouse gas
emissions without voter or
legislative approval, accord-
ing to interviews and public
records.
Brown has said she’s will-
ing to act with her executive
authority if lawmakers and
industry don’t reach agree-
ment on ways to limit green-
house gas emissions over the
next several decades.
Her spokeswoman, Kate
Kondayen, reiterated that
point, saying that Brown
would rather see legislative
action.
“The governor has been
meeting with stakeholders
from the agricultural sector,
transportation sector, and
wood products industries
throughout the summer and
will continue to do so into the
fall to ensure that the policy
benefits rural Oregon while
allowing rural Oregon indus-
tries to remain competitive,”
Kondayen said in a state-
ment. “In the meantime, she
has instructed her team and
agencies to explore all options
to achieve Oregon’s emissions
reduction goals.”
Kondayen didn’t otherwise
respond to written questions.
Richard Whitman, director
of the state Department of
Environmental Quality, said
his agency started talking
with the governor’s staff a
little more than a year ago,
exploring what options were
available. Those efforts were
sidelined as momentum
picked up ahead of the 2019
Legislature for a comprehen-
sive carbon capping program.
The costly and controversial
legislation setting the program
in place famously failed in the
final week of the session.
DEQ, responding a public
records request, released 39
emails dating from October
2017 to last June document-
ing communication between
Brown’s office and DEQ
regarding curbing emissions
outside of legislative action.
Much of the correspondence
regarded suing the federal
Environmental Protection
Agency to ensure Oregon
maintains the authority to use
executive powers to regulate
polluters.
An outline of the potential
executive actions available
to the governor was sent
by Whitman to Brown’s
advisers and a state Justice
Department fi ve days before
the legislative session ended
without a carbon emissions
policy passing.
Brown had no desire to let
the work and momentum
behind a carbon-capping
program fi zzle. Less than
24 hours after the session
closed, she called reporters
into her offi ce and threat-
ened to use her executive
powers to lower carbon
emissions.
Immediately, DEQ re-
sumed its work vetting those
options.
Whitman said his offi ce is
in weekly, if not daily, com-
munication with Brown’s
staff on the effort.
“We are on a pretty steady
pace working on these issues
at this point,” he said.
The June 25 internal docu-
ment outlines a gradually
declining cap on industrial
emissions and fossil fuel
importers, strengthening Or-
egon’s low-carbon fuel stan-
dard and increasing access to
public transit and promoting
biking and walking.
DEQ also outlined ways
to strengthen regulations on
landfi lls to lower methane
emissions, more strictly
regulating dairies, expanding
vehicle inspection programs
so that medium-duty trucks
are inspected twice per year
and requiring newly built
buildings include electric
vehicle charging stations.
Whitman said the main
focus of the agency’s pro-
posal is on capping industrial
emissions. And while execu-
tive action can be extremely
powerful, it lacks the nuance
afforded by the legislative
process, he said.
Going the legislative route
allows the state to be less
restrictive of industry, giving
it the best “bang for its buck,”
Whitman said.
In 2019, lawmakers devel-
oped a policy were a cap on
carbon came alongside “al-
lowances” equal to one ton of
pollution. Those allowances
would have been purchased
from the state at auction and
then became a commodity
for the holders, as they could
be resold or traded.
Lawmakers also designed
a system to give free allow-
ances to companies that
would struggle to compete
on a national or global scale
under the new regulations.
The policy would have also
allowed companies to invest
in “offsets” like preserving
timber stands rather than
buying allowances.
Executive action does not
afford that level of creativity.
More or less, she is allowed
to limit emissions, but is
more handcuffed in helping
industry make the transi-
tion.
Brown has not said how
extreme the new emission
regulations could be, but any
change would likely impact
business, and in turn could
impact consumers and the
overall economy.
Whitman said executive
orders might not result in
the overall emissions reduc-
tion being done in the most
effi cient way.
Brown’s potential execu-
tive action is likely to draw
political fi re.
“I am severely disap-
pointed with the governor
wanting to move forward
with executive action, when
the Legislature clearly did
not get the cap and trade
program right,” said Rep.
David Brock Smith, R-Port
Orford. Brock Smith served
as co-vice chair of the joint
committee that studied
the issue and produced the
cap-and-trade legislation –
House Bill 2020.
Brown has been quiet on
the issue since holding her
press conference in June.
“The really major issue
here is that if Oregon DEQ
were to proceed with a pro-
gram, particularly around
capping industrial emissions
or fuels … it likely would be
kind of a blunt instrument,
frankly,” Whitman said.
Brad Reed, spokesman
for environmental coalition
Renew Oregon, said action
is needed now. Renew was
one of the chief proponents
for the policy but Reed said
executive action could be a
start.
“The governor should do
everything she can to combat
the climate crisis,” Reed said.
Reed said after her an-
nouncement, Brown met
with Renew’s policy analysts
to go over the most effective
ways to use agency authority
to cut down on emissions.
Reducing pollution was
only one part of the legisla-
tive plan, though. The cap-
and-trade program would
have generated millions for
climate projects around the
state.
That also becomes more
diffi cult with executive ac-
tion. DEQ could raise money
through increased fees for
things like industrial or ag-
ricultural permits, but that
would require legislative
approval.
“I think it’s highly unlikely
that we would be able to
operate a program that
generates revenue for things
that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions,” Whitman said.
And while DEQ analysts
have narrowed what options
to consider, they continue
to examine how best to
implement new rules and
regulations.
Whitman said he’s work-
ing under the directive from
Brown to design the most
workable program, and then
let Brown and her team
decide what to do with it.
However, if the governor
side steps lawmakers and
imposes new regulations, she
would likely face anger from
some legislators.
In two years, Whitman
and DEQ will have to go
through the ritual of getting
legislative approval for a new
budget. Brock Smith noted
that he sits on a committee
that considers DEQ’s budget.
“DEQ did not get every-
thing they wanted in their
budget to fund existing
programs at the levels
they desired,” Brock Smith
said of the current budget.
“By adding programs that
would implement portions
of a cap-and-trade program
that would be punitive to
industry, especially in rural
Oregon, it would be more dif-
fi cult in my opinion to fund
programs that are already
underfunded, but also those
that would be punitive to
industry.”
Whitman said any poten-
tial retribution is far from his
mind.
“In terms of the politics of
how it’s designed … I’m not
going to lose a whole lot of
sleep over that,” Whitman
said.
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