NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Sweeping plan aims to wean Oregonians from fossil fuels
emissions in the state.
It requires fuel suppliers
to reduce greenhouse emis-
sions from the products they
sell by 50% by 2035 and
90% by 2050 – even more
aggressive than the state’s
overall goals. Some 13
industrial facilities also will
be required to reduce their
emissions consistent with the
best and most cost-effective
technology, with aggregate
emission reductions targeted
at half of today’s levels by
2035.
The plan doesn’t prescribe
a way to achieve those reduc-
tions or mandate the use of
any type of fuel or technol-
ogy, such as biodiesel or
electric cars and trucks. It
simply sets up a regulatory
backstop in which DEQ will
establish a declining limit on
emissions from fuels covered
by the program. Suppliers
who can’t meet them will
face escalating costs, which
will be passed through to
consumers at the pump, in
their monthly utility bills and
in the cost of goods they buy.
The program covers all
fossil fuel suppliers, includ-
ing diesel, gasoline, natu-
ral gas, and propane used
in transportation, residen-
tial, commercial and indus-
trial settings. Bottom line:
It will force Oregonians to
eventually slash their use,
switch to alternatives or pay
Consumers face
escalating costs in
fuel, energy bills
if suppliers can’t
meet regulations
By TED SICKINGER
The Oregonian
SALEM — Policymakers
for the Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality on
Thursday, Dec. 16, voted 4
to 1 to adopt a controversial
Climate Protection Plan that
would eventually have far
reaching impacts on every
resident of the state.
Depending on who’s
describing it, the plan is
either an unachievable
economic debacle in the
making or a long overdue
and measured response to
climate change that may
not go far enough. If that
sounds familiar, it’s because
Oregon’s debate over climate
policy has featured the same
polarized rhetoric for the last
five years and more.
The new plan was devel-
oped by the Department of
Environmental Quality after
Republican walkouts in 2019
and 2020 killed efforts to
pass economywide cap and
trade legislation. The gover-
nor responded with an execu-
tive order directing agencies
to develop plans to regulate
and reduce greenhouse gas
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg, File
The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, adopted a sweeping Climate Protection Plan that
calls for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
significantly higher prices to
continue burning them.
The Environ men-
tal Quality Commission
— the five-person DEQ
policy board — adopted
the program at a special
meeting Dec. 16. The roll-
out will begin early next
year, though any financial
impacts to consumers likely
would take years before
being felt.
I t ’s a n a m b i t i o u s
program, particularly with
today’s limited availability
of biofuels, electric trucks,
cha rg i ng st at ions a nd
alternatives to natural gas.
Unsurprisingly, it’s subject
to the same controversy that
killed climate legislation
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
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the past two years.
The Climate Protection
Plan is a downsized version
of that stalled legislation. It
doesn’t apply to the electric
utility sector, where emis-
sions reductions are being
targeted under another piece
of legislation passed this
year. And it’s not designed
to link with other states’
programs, such as Califor-
nia’s cap and trade system.
But it relies on similar
mechanisms and is aimed at
sectors that account for about
half of greenhouse emissions
in the state, according to
DEQ staff.
Trade associations for
regulated businesses believe
the reductions are unachiev-
Cloudy and milder
35° 30°
47° 39°
Breezy and cooler
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showers
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shower possible
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
40° 35°
41° 25°
44° 32°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
37° 32°
46° 38°
44° 36°
45° 29°
46° 35°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
46/45
33/32
35/31
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
33/29
Lewiston
47/44
35/31
Astoria
50/46
Pullman
Yakima 30/29
44/42
38/35
Portland
Hermiston
47/43
The Dalles 37/32
Salem
Corvallis
44/42
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
39/31
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
47/44
49/39
45/33
Ontario
33/26
Caldwell
Burns
33°
30°
41°
28°
66° (2019) -12° (1990)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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Albany
45/43
0.47"
1.52"
0.68"
6.59"
4.18"
8.20"
WINDS (in mph)
36/28
36/23
0.47"
1.51"
0.95"
8.89"
12.69"
12.68"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 39/27
47/44
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
35/30
38/36
30°
27°
40°
28°
66° (1900) -12° (1990)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
44/42
Aberdeen
28/27
27/24
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
44/41
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
43/38
Wed.
SSE 3-6
NNW 4-8
SW 4-8
S 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
38/27
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:33 a.m.
4:14 p.m.
6:26 p.m.
9:49 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
Dec 26
Jan 2
Jan 9
Jan 17
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 85° in Vero Beach, Fla. Low -14° in Bottineau, N.D.
director at the state’s largest
business association, Oregon
Business & Industry. “The
timing of it, with the infla-
tion we’re seeing and the
pressures on the transpor-
tation sector, presents a lot
more challenges that we’re
going to face.”
Environmental groups,
meanwhile, are deeply frus-
trated with the Legislature’s
inaction on transportation
emissions. They say the
planet is facing a climate
cliff, and the program’s hard
and declining cap is what’s
required to move the emis-
sions needle and transition
businesses and consumers
to lower-carbon alternatives
over the coming decades.
Newly formed committee to review four
books causing stir in Walla Walla schools
By JEREMY BURNHAM
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Mostly cloudy and
chilly
able and warn the paucity
of alternative means to
comply may eventually lead
to fuel rationing. They say
the lack of a cost cap will
lead to steep price increases
that would undercut their
competitiveness, forcing
some manufacturers to move
or cut jobs. They decry what
they describe as an 11th hour
move by the agency to make
the rules even more strin-
gent, after they had been put
out for public comment this
fall. And they suggest a legal
challenge is likely.
“I don’t think it’s well
u nde r st o o d how t h is
program is going to impact
people across the state, said
Sharla Moffett, a policy
WA LLA-WA LLA —
Book censorship was a
hot topic during the public
comment session of the Dec.
14 Walla Walla School Board
meeting.
Several cur rent and
former students of Walla
Walla High School spoke
out against censorship at the
meeting.
A few members of the
public also spoke against
a few books in the Wa-Hi
library.
The subject arose after a
video by two women call-
ing themselves For Our
Kids WW was posted to
social media. The women,
who don’t provide their
names, claimed that a book,
“Gender Queer,” by Maia
Kobabe, was removed from
the Walla Walla High School
library’s circulation after
they complained about it.
But as of yet, no book has
been permanently banned,
Superintendent Wade Smith
emphasized Wednesday,
Dec. 15.
Smith added the book was
never in circulation to begin
with.
While “Gender Queer”
was ordered by the district
for use at the library, it
hadn’t yet made the shelves
before the district received
a complaint about it, Smith
said.
“It was still in a box,”
Smith said. “We had to open
a box just to find it.”
Smith said the book is one
of four that was submitted
for review by members of the
public this year. He said this
is the first time in his seven
years with the district that
any book has been submit-
ted for review by the public.
Of the fou r books,
“Gender Queer” was the
only one not in circulation at
the time of the objection. It
will be held out of circulation
until after the review process
takes place in January.
The other three books
will remain in circulation
during review.
The review process for
“The Hate U Give,” by Angie
Thomas, and “All Boys
Aren’t Blue,” by George
M. Johnson, concluded on
Wednesday, Dec 15. Both
books will remain in circu-
lation.
Meanwhile, “Gender
Queer,” along with “The
Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morri-
son, will be reviewed in
January.
When the district started
receiving complaints about
books, a committee was
formed to reconsider titles
using the district’s criteria,
Smith said.
This criteria is outlined in
the district’s Policy No. 2021
and includes considerations
such as appropriate reading
level and currency of the
material.
The committee consists
of faculty, librarians, prin-
cipals, members of the
district’s equity department
and three high school student
representatives, Smith said.
While he was concerned
that misinformation seem-
ingly led many people
to believe that “Gender
Queer” had been banned at
the library by the district,
Smith said he was proud to
see students speak up for
something they feel strongly
about.
“Last night was a time we
can all celebrate the incred-
ible kids we have here, and
how eloquently and thought-
fully they articulated their
viewpoints,” Smith said.
Walla Walla Public
School’s policy on its
book-review process can
be found online at ubne.ws/
wwps2021.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
OSP searches unlicensed
marijuana dispensary
UNION COUNTY — The Oregon State
Police Drug Enforcement Section recently
conducted a search on an unlicensed mari-
juana dispensary in Union County.
On Thursday, Dec. 16, OSP and other
law enforcement served a search warrant at
Highway 30 Cannabis on Adams Avenue in
La Grande after receiving tips about unlaw-
ful distribution of marijuana products at the
store. Law enforcement also served a second-
ary search at a storefront operation on Stack-
land Road in Cove.
Through a long-term investigation, law
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