Join CUB in Support of the Oregon Climate Authority
Posted on March 28, 2019 by Amelia Lamb
Tags, Energy
The 2019 Legislature is moving toward decisive actions to address climate change. Blog readers have already heard from CUB about HB 2020, the “Oregon CAP” bill, also known as “Clean Energy Jobs”. Now, the Legislature is deliberating on SB 928, which outlines the governance structure for implementing HB 2020. SB 928 would establish the Oregon Climate Authority as a new state agency, tasked with overseeing all of Oregon’s climate-related activities under one unified mandate. CUB supports this bill and hopes you will join us in voicing residential utility customer support of SB 928 to the legislative assembly.
The Oregon Climate Authority’s primary function would be to administer the carbon market that HB 2020 proposes to create. The Climate Authority would also act as the central hub of state governmental activities to address climate change, and take over the greenhouse gas reporting functions currently managed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) would be abolished, with a targeted set of its programs moved to the Climate Authority. In addition to outlining the structure needed to accomplish HB 2020’s goals, SB 928 strategically streamlines a number of administrative functions.
SB 928 would also establish the Oregon Climate Board, a nine-member independent body, appointed by the Governor to oversee the Climate Authority. Governor Kate Brown gave the opening testimony calling for support of SB 928 in an informational hearing of the Senate Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources on March 21.
As is the case with HB 2020, CUB’s focus is on the utility sector and how SB 928 will affect Oregon residential customers by providing regulatory clarity. SB 928 and HB 2020 are both undergoing review by relevant committees so these bills are not yet finalized. CUB understands that amendments are likely as testimony continues. But we believe that both bills reflect significant research and represent a sound basis for legislative action. The last five years have seen Oregon beat many of its past records in the number of summer days over 90 degrees and extremity of winter snowfalls. Wildfires throughout the state are starting earlier in the season and burning hotter on average. Climate change is here, and its impacts on Oregonians and our economy are growing season by season. A crisis of such scale warrants the formation of a state agency whose single focus is ensuring comprehensive action to address climate change and increase economy-wide resiliency.
As Governor Brown said in her testimony, “Climate change is too big of a challenge, too cross-sector a crisis to remain fragmented… This new agency, focusing on climate policy, and moving Oregon toward a future of reliable power generation, with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, is the pragmatic structure needed to forward the ambitious policy goals we share.”
CUB provides well researched and reasoned arguments to legislators and other stakeholders, but signatures from our readers are “another tool in the arsenal” to demonstrate utility residential customer support for the policies CUB advocates for on your behalf. To that end, we invite you to “sign on” today to CUB’s endorsement of HB 2020 and SB 928 on our Action Alerts page. Watch for updates as the session moves forward!
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03/28/19 | 0 Comments | Join CUB in Support of the Oregon Climate Authority