A6
STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Democrats renew effort to pass carbon-reduction bill
Fear over denial
of quorum sparks
murmurs of referring
constitutional
amendment to voters
By Sam Stites
Oregon Capital Bureau
The next session of
the Oregon Legislature is
expected to begin the way
the last one ended: with
a dramatic clash between
Democrats and Republi-
cans over future carbon
emissions.
Sen. Michael Dembrow,
D-Portland, is reworking a
proposal to create a cap-and-
trade program in Oregon
for consideration by legisla-
tors when they convene next
February.
And he’s aiming political
pressure at Senate Republi-
cans who walked out of the
2019 Legislature in a move
that killed consideration
of House Bill 2020. Dem-
brow was one of the chief
architects of that legislation,
which would have limited
greenhouse gases, created
tax incentives for industry
and generated millions to
be used for environmental
programs.
In the four months since
Capital Bureau/Aubrey Wieber
Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, and Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, leaders of the cap
and trade proposal, speak at a rally outside the Capitol.
the 2019 session ended,
Dembrow and his col-
leagues have worked to
strengthen their proposal
against Republican rebuke.
He isn’t ready to share
details and worries that
Republicans may repeat
in February their no-show
approach to keep the Senate
from acting.
“Until we fix the quo-
rum requirement, it may not
be possible for us to address
climate action in the Legis-
lature,” Dembrow said.
Legislators may feel pres-
sured to act in the face of
three ballot measures being
proposed by environmen-
tal advocacy group Renew
Oregon. The group said it
intended to submit several
thousand signatures on Oct.
30 as a step toward putting
before voters the elements of
the 2019 legislation. Such a
tactic would sideline oppo-
nents from a role in crafting
Oregon’s program.
As proposed earlier this
year, the cap-and-trade pro-
gram would restrict the
amount of carbon dioxide
that businesses in certain
industries — such as trans-
portation, energy and fossil
fuels — are allowed to emit.
It would require an 80 per-
cent reduction in emissions
from 1990 levels by 2050.
Under the law, business
would buy allowances for
every ton of greenhouse gas
they emit more than permit-
ted. The state would make
fewer credits available over
time with the intention of
requiring businesses to pol-
lute less.
Opponents argue the pro-
gram would put undue pres-
sure on Oregon’s rural econ-
omies by causing higher fuel
costs and lost jobs.
Dembrow is currently
working on changes to the
bill that would provide more
clarity and certainty around
investments and economic
impacts “to address the wild
allegations and misinforma-
tion about cost impacts that
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were distributed via social
media,” he said.
One such piece of mis-
information was the claim
that gas prices would rise to
$5 a gallon in the first year
of the program, Dembrow
said. Projections from the
state analysts show gas ris-
ing by around 21 cents in the
first year of the program and
approximately $3 by 2050.
The idea behind those
revisions — which Demo-
crats are holding close to the
vest for the time being — is
to make more Oregonians
and businesses comfortable
with how the program works
and its potential benefits.
Dembrow said he wants
to clarify how the program
would actually work. He’s
working with “people on
the ground” in rural dis-
tricts to help voters under-
stand the harmful effects of
climate change. He’s hoping
those open to climate action
policy will then convince
their neighbors and commu-
nity that long-term action is
needed.
Social media campaigns
targeting rural voters and
even a short documen-
tary explaining how cap-
and-trade policy works are
expected to be rolled out in
the coming month, according
to Dembrow.
Dembrow wouldn’t go
into more specific detail
about what industries and
groups he’s working with to
perfect the proposal, calling
it “delicate situation.”
He’s hopeful that getting
information out to voters of
the districts of the 11 Repub-
licans who walked out in June
would hold them accountable
to show up to work in Febru-
ary and stay there.
But it seems unlikely that
Dembrow and his colleagues
will find a middle ground
to work with Republicans
and keep them in the Capi-
tol if cap-and-trade is on the
agenda again.
Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-On-
tario, said there was no
change that could be made
that could get him to vote for
cap-and-trade.
“The reason has to do with
the poisoning of the well by
virtue of the unsuccessful
attempt to pass it this previ-
ous session,” Bentz said. “I
think the focus should be on
carbon policy that has noth-
ing to do with pricing carbon,
and everything to do with
addressing CO2 reduction
using tools already available,
and we have a lot of them.”
He pointed out federal
tax credits already exist to
address some carbon issues.
Democrats worry that
Senate Republicans might
not show up in February,
denying Democrats a quo-
rum and from accomplish-
ing anything ahead of what
is expected to be an import-
ant election for both parties
next fall.
“The walkout was only
used as a vote blocking
device because of the incred-
ibly egregious nature of these
bills and concepts,” Bentz
said. “I don’t think people
understand how overreach-
ing HB 2020 was. I don’t
think they get it.”
He said, if Democrats
refer a constitutional amend-
ment to voters changing Ore-
gon’s quorum requirement,
he won’t stand in the way.
The Oregon Senate requires
two-thirds of senators be
present to act. There has
been talk of changing that
to a majority, which would
allow the Democratic-con-
trolled Senate in the current
lineup to proceed without
Republicans.
Bentz expects a public
backlash to such a change.
“That’s exactly what peo-
ple are supposed to do when
they see the majority over-
reaching. They need to step
up and say no,” Bentz said.
“Now if that tool is taken
away by the people of Ore-
gon, or a majority of them,
then so be it. But there are
going to be other ways peo-
ple will express their dissat-
isfaction with the majority.”
Gov. Kate Brown told
reporters last week that she
expects Senate Republicans
to show up in February the
same as she expects that from
Democrats.
“They made a decision to
run for the Legislature, and I
expect them to show up and
do their jobs,” Brown said.
Senate Minority Leader
Herman
Baertschiger,
R-Grants Pass, said Oct. 30
that he believes the short ses-
sion shouldn’t be used for
big policy programs like cap
and trade, rather for budget-
ary fixes and minor legisla-
tive tweaks. He also said it’s
too early to discuss whether
Republicans would use the
denial of quorum as a tactic
in 2020.
For Dembrow, he’s not
confident that a cap-and-
trade proposal in 2020 would
withstand the feverish pres-
sure Republicans will surely
feel against the legislation
from their base in an elec-
tion year.
Although he’s excited to
see others take up the work
he and his colleagues are
pushing to get done in Feb-
ruary, he’s doubtful whether
it will help Democrats in
their pursuit climate action.
“In some ways (these
measures) could lead to
quicker, stronger action
than legislative action,” he
said. “Will they help move
Republicans to allowing a
climate bill to be consid-
ered in February? I don’t
know.”
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