CUB Conference Preview: Agency Heads and Executive Order Implementation
Posted on September 22, 2020 by Mike Goetz
Tags, Energy, Conference & Events
CUB is hosting our tenth annual policy conference, Finding Hope: Improving Our Energy Systems in the Age of COVID-19 on October 16 from 9:30am – 2:40pm. Register now to take advantage of early bird pricing, which ends on Monday, September 28! Today we are pleased to offer a sneak preview of the mid-day panel on the day’s agenda, Executive Order No. 20-04 Implementation: Short and Long Term, Opportunities and Challenges.
Even before the tragic and unprecedented wildfires in Oregon and across the West began, addressing the climate crisis was imperative. In Oregon, state agency action is being driven by Governor Kate Brown’s far-reaching March Executive Order (EO) 20-04. All state agencies are taking steps, but three agencies with major EO implementation responsibilities that tie into energy sector reform are the Oregon Public Utility Commission, Oregon Department of Energy, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Together for what we think is the first time, the heads of these agencies will be on one panel to address the urgent call by the Governor’s EO to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions to at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050:
- Janine Benner, Director – Oregon Department of Energy
- Megan Decker, Chair – Oregon Public Utility Commission
- Richard Whitman, Director – Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
What are these agencies’ plans to ensure that the EO’s directive is met? What needs to be done to achieve the goal of reducing GHG emissions to at least 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2035 – only 15 years from now? What challenges and opportunities lay ahead for these agencies to address the state’s two largest sources of GHG emissions: energy and transportation?
The EO also requires action on critical societal goals including equity, environmental justice, affordability, and reducing the energy burden on low-income households. Addressing another goal – wildfire risk mitigation – is even more urgent given the obvious connection between climate change and the devasting fires that flared up so rapidly and grew so large across the West this summer.
This panel will explore current and future strategies deployed by the three state agencies and will examine the interplay between agency action and larger, economy-wide reform. Thanks to these top agency officials for their panel participation and joining us for what we’re sure will be a rousing discussion.
This is the second in a series of upcoming blog updates that will preview each of the 2020 CUB Conference’s panel discussions. Stay tuned for more, and visit the conference homepage for details on the day’s agenda and to register! Once again, we encourage readers to register on or before Monday September 28 to take advantage of Early Bird pricing. Follow updates on Twitter at #CUBCon20, and sign up for our email list to get ongoing updates in your inbox!
CUB is grateful to our generous sponsors whose support makes the CUB conference possible, particularly Polar Bear sponsors NW Natural, Pacific Power, and Portland General Electric; Grizzly Bear sponsor Avista; and Media Sponsor Clearing Up.
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10/01/20 | 0 Comments | CUB Conference Preview: Agency Heads and Executive Order Implementation