Oregon climate legislation would limit pollution and protect communities

Oregon lawmakers unveiled their detailed legislative proposal Thursday afternoon for how the state can meet or exceed its ambitious climate targets. The proposed “cap and invest” policy would place a firm limit on carbon pollution while driving investments in green jobs, communities that will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change, and clean energy innovation. For more detailed background, see EDF’s blog post, Oregon poised to cap carbon pollution.

“Oregon lawmakers have a historic opportunity to become only the second U.S. state ever to place a firm, declining limit on the vast majority of the state’s climate pollution – pollution that is already threatening the lives and well-being of people in Oregon and around the world. 

“With the federal government stuck in reverse, Oregon’s leadership and commitment to ramping down carbon pollution quickly, with an eye toward protecting communities in the transition to a clean energy economy, is more important now than ever.” 

• Erica Morehouse, Senior Attorney for U.S. Climate Policy and Analysis, Environmental Defense Fund