Friday, February 14, 2020
CapitalPress.com
5
Activists swarm Capitol in support of climate bill
By SAM STITES
and CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Activists seek-
ing to clean Oregon’s environ-
ment by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions turned out by
the hundreds at state Capitol
Tuesday, pushing legislators
to move ahead with a cap-and-
trade policy.
Demonstrators ranged from
Salem-area teenagers who
took time out from school to
middle-aged Wasco County
residents.
All told, organizers say that
more than 1,000 people trav-
elled to the Capitol to support
Senate Bill 1530, which aims
to cap and shrink the state’s
carbon emissions and gener-
ate revenue for environmental
projects.
One of those local teens was
Angelique Prater, 17, of Salem,
who spoke to the crowd Tues-
day about her activism.
In an interview, she said that
her parents, immigrants from
Mexico who work in agricul-
ture, were already feeling the
effects of climate change —
extreme temperatures in winter
and summer.
She said she first heard
about the proposal from friends
in school and then got involved
in activism.
“I’m here today to fight for
the climate crisis and to, you
know, push our legislators to
fight for strong climate leg-
islation,” Prater said, adding
that legislation was the most
important part of “solving the
climate crisis.”
The pending legislation
would establish a new limit on
certain emissions and reduce
them over time.
The limits would apply to
certain industries and major
fuel importers. The cap-and-
trade policy would carve up the
emissions limit into allowances
that emitters can buy and sell
on a market. The idea is that
as emissions targets get lower,
fewer allowances are available,
and industry would improve
Sam Stites/ Oregon Capital Bureau
Activists pack the steps of the Oregon State Capitol on
Tuesday, Feb. 11, to show support for a cap and trade
bill being considered by lawmakers.
pollution controls.
Opponents have criticized
the plan for its potential impact
on consumers and small busi-
nesses, particularly through
higher fuel costs. Recent revi-
sions to the legislation spare
counties east of the Cas-
cades from regulations on fuel
importers and provide a way
for natural gas companies to
guard their low-income cus-
tomers against higher costs.
The event began at noon
with speeches on the Capitol
steps from activists and politi-
cal officials, including remarks
from Multnomah County
Commissioner Jessica Vega
Pederson, Milwaukie Mayor
and congressional candidate
Mark Gamba and Eric Rich-
ardson,
Eugene-Springfield
NAACP president. Follow-
ing speeches, the demonstra-
tors marched around the Cap-
itol chanting and waving signs
with messages supporting the
climate legislation.
The event, organized by the
environmental group Renew
Oregon, was a counterpoint to
a protest in Salem last week
organized by Timber Unity.
Activists made the trek to
Salem from all parts of the
state Tuesday, including Dean
Myerson, who was part of a
carload of demonstrators who
drove three hours from The
Dalles.
Myerson said he believes
Oregon needs to lead the way
on climate action.
“We can’t just wait for
everybody else to do something
first, which seems to be one of
the arguments. ‘We can’t do
this alone,’ which is true, but
somebody has to start,” Myer-
son said. “In Wasco County we
had a series of really bad fires a
couple years ago. A lot of his-
toric homes were destroyed, a
farmer died. … There’s always
been fires, but climate change
is making them worse.”
Maia Stout, a 15-year-old
from coastal Yachats, explained
to the crowd what climate
action means to her. For the
past several months, Stout —
like 17-year-old Swedish activ-
ist Greta Thunberg — has par-
ticipated in the global youth
climate strike, standing outside
her high school in Newport
every Friday to bring attention
to the issue.
“I advocate for climate
action because I under-
stand that the mistakes we’ve
made don’t fix themselves,”
Stout said. “I raised my voice
because I can’t vote for three
more years and time is running
out.”
Coral Avery, 22, a student at
Oregon State University, is an
enrolled member of the Shaw-
nee tribe of Oklahoma.
“Climate and natural
resource use really goes back
to indigenous people,” Avery
said. “That’s the main reason
why I’m here today, is to rep-
resent, the best I can, repre-
sent my community and other
indigenous communities who
have overall been left out of the
conversation or at least haven’t
been centered in it before.”
Washington Farm
Protest: Groups of protesters visited legislators’ offices
ments on bill alterations yet.
Bureau joins hands with Continued from Page 1
Parrish brought her own proposals to
would eliminate 43.4 million metric tons deal with climate change without hurting
climate-action group
of carbon annually from the atmosphere. rural jobs.
Critics, however, point out that
“Taxing the behavior of pollution will
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washing-
ton farm and environmental
groups have agreed on legis-
lation to fund on-farm projects
that reduce carbon emissions.
Washington Farm Bureau
initially opposed it but now sup-
ports the reworked measure.
It is the brainchild of Carbon
Washington, a Seattle-based
climate-action group that envi-
sions a carbon-free future.
Carbon Washington’s orig-
inal proposal has been stripped
of implied criticism of agri-
culture’s reliance on fossil
fuels. Left in place are grants
to farmers for planting trees,
growing cover crops, buy-
ing lower-emission tractors
and taking other steps to store
more or release less green-
house gases.
“That language represents
a year-long discussion among
a broad stakeholder group,”
Farm Bureau government rela-
tions director Tom Davis said
Friday. “The conversation
didn’t start well. There was a
lot of finger pointing and rock
throwing.”
The Senate has already
passed a version of Senate Bill
5947. The Farm Bureau said
it was too complicated and
passed without enough consul-
tation with farm groups. The
bill is now in the House Agri-
culture and Natural Resources
Committee.
The Farm Bureau and Car-
bon Washington are backing a
rewrite that deletes references
to farmers and ranchers cut-
ting their consumption of fos-
sil fuels to reduce “local and
global pollution.” Among the
groups supporting the rewrite
are the Washington State Dairy
Federation and The Nature
Conservancy.
At a hearing Friday in front
of the House agriculture com-
mittee, Columbia Basin farmer
Jim Baird testified in support
of the bill. Outside the hearing
room, Baird said financial sup-
port could encourage farmers
to plant cover crops—a favor-
ite subject of his, he said.
“People see me coming and
say, ‘Here comes Mr. Cover
Crop,’” Baird said. “I per-
sonally like the bill because I
believe it will be the first step
in farmers getting paid for
healthier farming practices that
sequester carbon.”
Farm groups are not unani-
mously behind creating a new
program. Agriculture lobby-
ist Jim Jesernig—represent-
ing state potato, onion and
grain associations—said the
reworked bill was fine, but
that current conservation dis-
trict programs already are
underfunded.
Lawmakers shouldn’t cre-
ate a new program unless
they’re willing to spend the
money, he said. “If it’s just
empty rhetoric, don’t pass it.”
A recent analysis by the
Washington State Conserva-
tion Commission concluded
the state’s 45 conservation dis-
tricts need another $17 mil-
lion to meet the on-the-ground
demand from landowners for
technical assistance. Heather
Hansen, representing the Wash-
ington Farm Forestry Associa-
tion, said legislators could do
more to reduce carbon emis-
sions by increasing support for
a program to help small-forest
landowners grow trees.
“I can’t support a new pro-
gram that would siphon funds
from existing programs,” she
said.
Carbon Washington pol-
icy chairman Greg Rock said
he also doesn’t want money
diverted from what conserva-
tion districts are doing now.
The organization will seek
a one-year, $1 million appro-
priation from lawmakers for
a new carbon-reduction pro-
gram while also advocating for
more money for existing con-
servation district programs, he
said.
A new program focused
on climate change could raise
overall support for conservation
districts among urban legisla-
tors, he said.
amount represents just 0.12% of global
greenhouse gas emissions. Advocates say
every bit counts.
Estimates provided by the nonpartisan
Legislative Revenue Office estimated the
program would raise prices by 22 cents
per gallon in the first year of the program,
according to state Sen. Bill Hansell.
Inside the building, protesters did not
go unnoticed.
Swarms of protesters visited legisla-
tors’ offices. Truck horns echoed even
inside hearing rooms.
Brian Iverson, the husband of state
Rep. Vikki Iverson, R-Powell Butte, said
his wife described being inside the Cap-
itol before protesters streamed in as the
calm before the storm, with subdued ten-
sion, excitement and angst.
At 9 a.m., Gov. Kate Brown met
with 10 Timber Unity leaders as part of
her continued effort to speak with rural
stakeholders.
The meeting was closed to the press, but
former legislator Julie Parrish, now a Tim-
ber Unity member, said the meeting with
Brown and her policy advisers was “genial.”
The governor, she said, listened to pro-
testers’ concerns but made no commit-
not reduce pollution,” said Parrish. “We
can do better. We need other solutions.”
In front of the Capitol, Jeff Leavy,
one of Timber Unity’s founders, told the
crowd that the movement has grown into
something larger than just about fight-
ing one bill. He said it’s now about chal-
lenging overregulation, getting citizens
engaged with government and trying to
have a voice in the legislative process.
“A legislator inside said you guys are
shutting down the legislature and not let-
ting people’s voices be heard,” said Sen.
Denyc Boles, R-Salem. Surveying the
crowd, she added, “I’d say this is the leg-
islative process. We can hear the people’s
voices.”
Sen. Herman Baertschiger Jr.,
R-Grants Pass, urged the crowd to con-
tinue on its mission.
“Now you must build an army to defeat
those in this building who want to take
away your way of life. It’s a fight for free-
dom. It’s so much bigger than one bill,”
he said, adding that “it’s now about all
kinds of freedom: religious freedom, gun
rights, the freedom not to be overtaxed.”
Timber Unity is a heterogeneous
group: Some members believe climate
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Timber Unity supporters greet the
convoy of trucks as it arrives Feb.
6 at the Oregon Capitol. Traffic on
Interstate 5 was backed up as the
big rigs arrived in Salem from all
directions.
change is a real issue and others don’t.
What they agree on is that hurting rural
Oregon businesses is not OK.
Timber Unity invited scientists, called
“skeptics” by some and “climate deniers”
by others, to speak.
“The whole concept behind this
bill is a big fraud,” said meteorologist
Chuck Wiese. “If you really want this,
I would say to the legislators, put it to
a vote. But they know if they do, folks
like you with common sense are gonna
shut it down.”
“We’re not having a climate cri-
sis,” added environmental scientist Bob
Zybach. “We’re having a government
crisis.”
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