A Long Session Ends…With a Little More Work to Do
Posted on July 10, 2009 by oregoncub
Tags, Legislative & Political
As a long-awaited answer to legislators’ and lobbyists’ hopes and prayers, the 2009 session of the Oregon legislature finally drew to a close a little over a week ago. But, as after the 2007 session, CUB’s legislative efforts are not quite done. Although the state legislature passed bills with provisions to protect the environment and promote energy efficiency, three bills were passed which threaten the significant progress we’ve made in clean energy policy, particularly during the 2007 session (stay tuned for a full report on the 2009 session once everything is wrapped up). For this reason, CUB and a number of environment and clean energy advocacy groups have asked the governor to veto bills HB 2940, HB 2472, and HB 3039.
CUB entered the 2009 session in high spirits from gains in the 2007 session and with the ambitious goals to retain past, hard won successes and to move policy forward in four main categories: 1) Climate, 2) Energy Efficiency, 3) Renewables, and 4) Telecommunications. We succeeded in meeting goals in each category, with particular gains in energy efficiency legislation and defeating bad telecom legislation.
However, this past legislative session was a hard one for renewable energy policy and despite tireless work during the session by a wide range of allies, CUB still finds itself part of a fight against three anti-renewable energy bills that we believe threaten Oregon’s position as a leader in the national push for clean energy and against climate change.
The bills are bad enough on their own - though a couple actually have good things in them - but together they represent a retreat from the substantial renewable energy policy progress made in 2007. Should the bills be signed, renewable energy policy in Oregon will take a few steps backwards, reneging on Oregon’s commitment to renewable energy. CUB urges the Governor to veto HB 2940, HB 2472, and HB 3039 in order to continue Oregon’s forward movement as a leader in clean energy economies - and to not step back from our recent achievements.
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03/16/17 | 0 Comments | A Long Session Ends…With a Little More Work to Do