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Oregon Republicans Flee in Face of Climate Change Bill

Steve Baragona

   Oregon state Republicans would rather go AWOL than let a climate bill
   pass that they say would raise costs for rural Oregonians.

   A bill requiring polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions
   seemed poised to clear the state's Democrat-controlled Legislature this
   week. But as the measure headed to a vote in the northwest U.S. state's
   Senate, Republican members left the state, leaving the chamber short of
   a quorum and grinding legislative business to a halt.
   Putting a price on carbon pollution, as Oregon's plan would do, is
   [1]the climate change strategy economists swear by. Even Republican
   elder statesmen back it.
   But the Oregon walkout is the latest demonstration that it can still be
   a tough sell politically.
   Pay to pollute
   After roughly two centuries of polluting for free, economists say
   fossil fuel industries should pay for the damage their greenhouse gases
   cause to the climate. And making carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions more
   expensive, they say, is the most efficient way to reduce them.
   Oregon's cap-and-trade proposal is one way to accomplish that.
   The state would set a limit, or cap, on total CO2 emissions. Power
   plants, factories, refineries and other industries would have to buy
   allowances for each ton they produce.
   That provides an incentive to emit less. And companies with allowances
   left over can trade them with those having a harder time reducing
   pollution.

References

   1. https://www.clcouncil.org/media/2017/03/The-Conservative-Case-for-Carbon-Dividends.pdf

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