A Clean Future Starts Here

Every day in Oregon, polluters dump waste into our air and water at no cost to their bottom line. If they are going to use the resources we all share – our air, our livable climate and plentiful water, the Oregon Environmental Council thinks these polluters should at least pay the true cost.

We already see the damaging effects of climate change posing a risk to our natural areas and Oregon industries like shellfish, agriculture, and snow-based tourism. Asthma rates are increasing as air pollution stagnates in the hot air and our most vulnerable populations are at risk. Delaying action to address the root causes of climate change just compounds the costs – on our health, our economy and our communities.

The Climate Stability and Justice Act (HB 3470) is the action we need. The Act enforces Oregon’s existing limits on climate pollution with a firm timeline for putting an action plan in place to guarantee Oregon achieves those goals. The law ensures that progress is measured and reported every five years and that further reductions are taken if benchmarks aren’t met.

The Climate Stability & Justice Act will:

  1. Achieve Oregon’s climate goals, adopted in 2007 by the Legislature.
  2. Create an enforceable action plan for achieving goals that is benchmarked every 5 years to ensure we’re making progress.
  3. Take into consideration the disproportionate burden of climate pollution on at-risk populations.
  4. Create a framework to support all cost-effective ways to reduce pollution.
  5. Draw upon best practices from our region and the world.
  6. Has the potential to generate carbon revenue that can be reinvested into creating good-paying, clean economy jobs.
  7. Remain flexible, allowing Oregon to use the best science and technology while reacting to changing circumstances.

Limiting climate pollution also creates the incentive for businesses to invest in Oregon’s clean energy economy, bringing jobs and opportunity to our state. If we focus on developing an economy that gives good jobs to families now and creates a clean energy future for our kids, we can create a prosperous Oregon while safeguarding clean air for our families and future generations to come.

This is not a new idea. Hundreds of countries have limits and prices on carbon. Close to home, California has had a comprehensive climate law since 2006 and a cap-and-trade program in place since the beginning of 2013. During the first two years of cap and trade, the state’s economy thrived with jobs in California growing by 3.3 percent from January 2013 to June 2014, outpacing the rest of the nation.

The Climate Justice & Stability Act has momentum. It has passed the House Committee on Energy and Environment and has been referred to House Rules Committee. Hundreds of people have turned out in Salem asking for climate action. Over 50 local businesses support the Act. Now make sure your voice is heard to move this bill forward.

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3 Replies to "A Clean Future Starts Here"

  • will beckett
    May 22, 2015 (3:06 pm)

    Interesting. This picture appears to be Crater Lake. A very amazing place that still gives me a feeling of awe because it is so beautiful and clean. Yet with all the rules to keep it clean, when I was there over 20 years ago, they were still using gasoline powered tour boats. I showed park officials the exact same boat available with electric power and no one was interested. The Compost towlets had solar panels at the lakes edge. Would have been a big deal to do this for boats. Hope this has now changed.

  • Matt
    May 23, 2015 (6:21 pm)

    Start By Banning All open Burning in the State.. and then Add a Tax to all Cars that Cause Air pollution.. So all Ice Cars shoudl pay for the Air to be cleaned because we have better tech now..

  • Climate change and runoff threaten Oregon's iconic coast | Oregon Environmental Council
    April 12, 2019 (5:42 pm)

    […] more about the impact of OEC’s programs in protecting our coasts and how you can get involved: climate policy, greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural and stormwater […]