CUB Kicks Off 2009 Legislative Session
Posted on January 19, 2009 by oregoncub
Tags, Legislative & Political
CUB went into the last Legislative session in 2007 with an ambitious agenda and a will for change. We succeeded with the vast majority of our goals and gave Oregon a head start in the national push for clean energy and a way to push back against climate change. Well, the 2009 Legislative Session just got underway and CUB and our allies in the Fair and Clean Energy Coalition and the Oregon Conservation Network are knocking on legislators’doors saying,
“We’re baaaaack!”
Again, we have a proactive, ambitious agenda, and we have been working for months to craft a thoughtful, meaningful list of goals that will move us forward without losing any of the hard won gains we’ve already secured. Our agenda can be grouped into 3 main categories: 1) Climate; 2) Energy Efficiency and Renewables; and 3) Telecommunications.
Our leading goal is to pass a bill, or maybe a few bills, that will help Oregon begin to seriously address the impacts of global warming. The work on this climate portion of our agenda should do the following: a) set a cap (which would decline over time) on greenhouse gases, and thereby reduce global warming pollution; b) authorize state agencies to begin crafting an administrative process to figure out how to make the reductions happen; and c) do both of the above while staying consistent and aligned with the broader regional context of the Western Climate Initiative.
Opponents to acting against global warming pollution have argued that action on climate change is premature in 2009. We beg to differ. We think the time to act was yesterday, and we had better get a move on if we want to be at all effective. Just to give one example of why we need clarity on global warming strategies now, is found in CUB’s purview, the Utility Sector of our energy economy. Utilities plan for the long haul, and we are making decisions now that will affect us for the next 50 years. By passing a cap now, the utilities and their customers will be ahead of the curve and protected from poor decisions that don’t include sensible climate regulatory policy foresight.
Our secondary goal, which is related and will help advance the first, is to advance Oregon’s programs supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. A big part of being able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions is reducing our overall energy usage, and generating more of what we do use from cleaner sources. Already, Oregon is a leader in these two areas. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a ton of valuable ground to be gained by looking for new opportunities.
CUB is working with a broad array of stakeholders to determine the most cost-effective way to dramatically increase energy efficiency efforts. At the same time, those efforts must complement and build upon existing programs. If we do not protect the existing successful programs we have already built, in the process of moving forward, we will have traded advancing the cause for chasing our tails. CUB is uniquely positioned because of our experience in helping create many of Oregon’s current programs to help safeguard them as we move forward with new ones.
As far as increasing renewable resources goes, we aren’t looking to try and top our 2007 victory of passing a Renewable Energy Standard for Oregon. But there are still avenues to be explored, and new doors to be opened so that Oregon has enough clean energy supply to meet the increasing demand.
Our third major goal is to play defense against the state’s largest telecommunications companies, such as Verizon (we reached a settlement with Qwest at the PUC which should ensure at least a temporary respite from their attempts at wholesale deregulation). Other major industry players, however, are almost certain to continue pushing for higher prices and less oversight, and CUB will push back.
The Oregon Legislature’s new session opened last week, with some old faces and some new. We will be tracking bills carefully, let you know what is important to CUB and its members, and will call on you for your help when it comes time to exercise your citizens’ voice on your own behalf and on behalf of all Oregon utility customers.
CUB has some new tools to help members and supporters track legislative activities and get involved to make a difference on key bills. First, CUB’s organizing director Jeff Bissonnette, who also serves as our legislative representative, will “Twitter” from the Capitol about important hearings and brief observations. You can see these Capitol “tweets” at the left of this web page or you can follow CUB on Twitter. You can also join the CUB Action Network where you can get specific updates on legislative activity as well as action alerts at key decision points on bills. The link for the CUB Action Network can also be found near the top of the right-hand column of this page.
CUB’s success in the legislature depends directly on the involvement of our members. So join us in making 2009 a great session for utility ratepayers. Good luck to us all!
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
03/10/17 | 0 Comments | CUB Kicks Off 2009 Legislative Session