State of Oregon Archives: on Energy & Oil


Bud Pierce: Democrats OpEd: He would undo measures on climate change

DGA Executive Director Noam Lee released the following statement on Pierce's campaign announcement: "Bud Pierce is a failed candidate whose shameful comments about women have shown he is unfit to serve in public office. And when Pierce released his idea for the state's budget, his plans to cut jobs, reverse economic growth, and undo measures meant to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change would have had devastating consequences."
Source: DGA press release for 2022 Oregon Governor race Dec 1, 2020

Jo Rae Perkins: Already have tools to cleanly burn fossil fuels

She'd oppose any attempt at a massive government program to combat climate change. She said the climate is always changing, but she said she doesn't think it's caused by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. "It doesn't mean that you burn it so that you're making the air smoggy again," she added. "We've already got the tools to cleanly burn this stuff."
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting on 2022 Oregon Senate race Sep 28, 2020

Jo Rae Perkins: Trees need CO2; I prefer a warmer earth

Renewable energy is not an area covered in the Constitution. If a state wants to pay that is fine. Otherwise it should be private investment dollars. Greenhouse gas emissions are buzz words & are open to interpretation. Those gases generally referred to as contributing to the ''greenhouse'' effect are naturally occurring such as CO2. Trees need the CO2. If they do not have CO2, the plants die. If plants die, we die. Plants give us oxygen in exchange. I prefer a warmer earth and so do most plants.
Source: Vote Smart Oregon Congressional 2018 NPAT Nov 1, 2018

Knute Buehler: May 2017: tax carbon; Oct.2017: oppose clean-energy jobs

In an opinion piece by Buehler over the weekend he voiced his opposition to legislation that would reduce carbon emissions, create good-paying green energy jobs and position Oregon to be an economic engine. Buehler's latest stance contradicts statements he made earlier this year in support of programs like Clean Energy Jobs.˙On May 3, 2017 Buehler˙said:˙"We should be taxing things that we don't want. I mean˙we should start taxing things like carbon and move away from taxing people's income."
Source: Democratic Party of Oregon on 2018 Oregon Governor race Oct 23, 2017

Kevin Stine: End corporate handouts to fossil fuel companies

Q: What should Congress do to deal with climate change?

STINE: We must end the corporate handouts to fossil fuel companies. Those companies are as profitable as ever, yet Congress continually gives them billions more each year in subsidies. Despite overwhelming peer-reviewed evidence, most elected Republican officials in Congress deny the science of climate change. Luckily, Oregon, with our Democratic legislature and Governor, has been a leader in the country in implementing new legislation to reduce carbon emissions. This approach needs to be taken national. Investing in green energy is investing in our future.

Source: League of Women Voters Guide to 2016 Oregon Senate race Sep 9, 2016

Mark Callahan: Do nothing about global warming; it's a fraudulent invention

Q: What should Congress do to deal with climate change?

CALLAHAN: Nothing, Absolutely Nothing! Climate Change, or what was formerly called Global Warming, is a fraudulent invention by the far left-wing liberal environmentalists, and is an over-exaggeration of what I, and most rational / common sense thinking people, call Weather. Of course, when the global warming was proven to be false, due to the earth not actually warming, as was fraudulently predicted by the far left-wing liberal environmentalists, the name had to be changed to Climate Change in order to fit their narrative, to be more nebulous, to continue deceiving people through deceptive marketing, so they could continue with their fraud. Climate Change is about controlling people's behavior, and not about the environment. It is an effort to guilt people into falling prey to the Green Agenda, and global socialism/communism, as described in the United Nation's Agenda 21 / Agenda 2030.

Source: League of Women Voters Guide to 2016 Oregon Senate race Sep 9, 2016

Ron Wyden: Boost renewable energy and the low-carbon economy

Q: What should Congress do to deal with climate change?

WYDEN: Climate change is here, and it's already affecting the Pacific Northwest. Moreover, an overwhelming majority of scientists agree that it is caused by humans, and that if we don't do something it's going to get strikingly worse. Congress must find ways to take meaningful action on climate change by boosting renewable energy and the low-carbon economy. I have put forward a proposal to revolutionize the outdated crazy quilt of clean energy tax credits--replacing it with a stronger, smarter way of promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean fuels, and energy storage. I've also pushed to renew expired tax benefits for clean energy--the tax benefits that are largely responsible for the major investment in carbon-cutting wind and solar energy across Oregon over the past decade.

Source: League of Women Voters Guide to 2016 Oregon Senate race Sep 9, 2016

Kate Brown: Wean Oregon off coal and boost renewable sources

Oregon's most consequential energy bill in decades--a nationally ambitious plan to wean the state off coal and boost renewable sources--has become law. Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 1547, handing Democrats a coveted political victory that comes despite lingering concerns the legislation might raise costs for utility customers.

The measure requires Oregon's two largest utilities, Portland General Electric and Pacific Power, to stop paying for out-of-state coal power by 2030. It also says utilities must serve half their customers' demand with renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2040.

"Knowing how important it is to Oregonians to act on climate change, a wide range of stakeholders came to the table around Oregonians' investments in coal and renewable energy," Brown said in a statement. "I'm proud to sign a bill that moves Oregon forward, together with the shared values of current and future generations."

Source: The Oregonian on voting record on Senate Bill 1547 Mar 10, 2016

Kevin Stine: Prioritize green energy

Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Prioritize green energy"?

A: Support.

Source: Email interview on 2016 Oregon Senate race with OnTheIssues Jan 1, 2016

Bud Pierce: End low-carbon fuel mandate: 19 cents-a-gallon hidden tax

Source: 2016 Oregon Gubernatorial campaign website BudPierce.com Dec 9, 2015

Julian Bell: Combat climate change and promote clean energy

Julian Bell, 44, an Ashland doctor who runs the intensive care unit at Providence Medford Medical Center, filed election papers. Bell's website lists combating climate change and promoting clean energy among his top priorities--and he accuses elected officials who dispute scientists who agree climate change is human caused of recklessness.

"At the moment there's no contingency plan in case the scientists do know more about the climate than the politicians," Bell's website says. "How can our politicians fail to use the best science when making their decisions about our future? We need a radical change of direction based on ingenuity, investment, science and reality based thinking."

Earlier this month, he told the Eugene Weekly newspaper that Brown was too quiet on environmental action.

Source: The Oregonian on 2016 Oregon gubernatorial race Oct 15, 2015

Kate Brown: Angered environmentalists via compromise transportation bill

Julian Bell told the Eugene Weekly newspaper that Brown was too quiet on environmental action. The environment could be a sensitive topic for Brown. The governor signed a controversial clean fuel standard into law before working to replace the program in hopes of salvaging a transportation funding package, something that drew the ire of environmental advocates. She has also an occasional target of protesters hoping she'll shut down plans for liquefied natural gas terminals in Oregon.
Source: The Oregonian on 2016 Oregon gubernatorial race Oct 15, 2015

Mark Callahan: Energy independence: based on the free market

Source: 2016 Oregon Senate campaign website, CallahanForOregon.com Oct 9, 2015

Kate Brown: Clean fuel bill critical; we are seeing a warming planet

I strongly support SB 324's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is difficult to deny that we are seeing the effects of a warming planet. This year, 85 percent of our state is experiencing drought, with 33 percent experiencing extreme drought. This directly impacts 1.5 million Oregonians, hitting our rural communities the hardest.

Legislative Summary: Repeals sunset on provisions related to low carbon fuel standards. Allows reinstating requirements to comply with low carbon fuel standards. Extends target date for meeting certain emission goals under phased implementation of low carbon fuel standards. Requires Environmental Quality Commission to adopt rules for managing and containing costs of compliance with low carbon fuel standards. Prohibits fuels that contain biodiesel from being considered alternative fuels unless certain standards are met. Adds certain exemptions to low carbon fuel standards. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

Source: Oregon.gov press release on SB324 legislative voting record Mar 12, 2015

Jeff Merkley: Climate change is real, and it's bad for our economy

The carbon pollution in our atmosphere from burning fossil fuels like oil and coal is waging a direct and unchecked assault on our farming, fishing and forests: the cornerstones of Oregon's rural economy.

When Jeff was young, his dad worked as a millwright. He spent his childhood in Southern Oregon timber communities, where timber jobs were what put food on the table and kept roofs over folks' head. Fires and insect infestations are already killing trees at alarming rates across the Northwest, and climate change will only make these threats to our forests worse. Other iconic Oregon industries like our coastal oyster hatcheries are threatened by ocean acidification, and fishing and farming alike are facing threats from declining snowpacks and increased drought.

Congress needs to wake up. Climate change is real, and it's bad for our economy and jobs, especially in rural Oregon and the places that most depend on our abundant natural resources.

Source: Vote-USA.org on 2014 Oregon Senate incumbents Oct 24, 2014

Monica Wehby: Complete the Keystone Pipeline; end EPA overreach

Dr. Wehby believes that we need leaders in Washington who will take a truly balanced approach when it comes to protecting our state's jobs and natural resources. The federal government telling our state we can't use our vast timber resources is like telling Texans they can't drill for oil. There is a human cost to over-regulation that comes from a federal bureaucracy in Washington D.C. that doesn't seem to care about the impact their policies have on working families. Dr. Wehby supports:
Source: 2014 Oregon Senate campaign website, MonicaForOregon.com Sep 1, 2014

Jason Conger: Voted NO on electronic energy efficiency standards

SB 692: Requires Certain Electronics to Meet Energy Efficiency Standards (Bill Passed House, 40-19); Conger voted Nay.
Source: 2013-2014 Oregon Senate & House legislative voting records May 30, 2013

John Kitzhaber: Making renewable energy in state also keeps dollars in state

An economy of innovation is within our reach--a low carbon economy--one that leads the way in manufacturing and designing products that use less energy; one that rewards efficiency rather than excess. Oregon companies supplying Oregon companies--where communities capture their local value streams--their energy savings, wind, sun, forest slash--and drive their economies by keeping that value at home instead of those dollars leaking out into the world economy for imported energy.
Source: 2011 gubernatorial press release, "Oregon Jobs" Apr 13, 2011

Ron Wyden: Biomass is a clean energy source & a job machine

In his opening remarks, Huffman wasted no time linking Wyden to Oregon's long-term unemployment problems. "It is no coincidence that during (Wyden's) term, Oregon unemployment is above the national average," Huffman said.

The two went on to outline their plans to foster small businesses in the face of a lousy economy. Huffman said that he believes in a moratorium on new federal regulations on businesses, a payroll tax holiday and an extension of the Bush tax cuts would help small businesses survive the downturn. "I believe small business is the most important employer in this state," he said.

Wyden pointed to his bipartisan work on a bill to help small businesses finance equipment they need to grow and his support of biomass as a job machine that would greatly benefit Southern Oregon. Wyden criticized the Obama administration's lumping biomass in with fossil fuels in terms of pollutants. "(Biomass) is a clean energy source for our state," he said.

Source: Mail Tribune coverage of 2010 Oregon Senate debate Oct 22, 2010

Ted Kulongoski: Require 1.5% solar energy technology in public construction

Excerpts from Oregon state legislative records for HB 2620:

Status:Passed Senate, 24-6-0; passed House 41-17-2; Signed by the Governor 6/11/2007.

Source: Oregon legislative voting records: HB 2620 Jun 11, 2007

Kate Brown: Require 1.5% solar energy technology in public construction

Excerpts from Oregon state legislative records for HB 2620:

Status:Passed Senate, 24-6-0; passed House 41-17-2; Signed by the Governor 6/11/2007 (Senator Brown voted YEA).

Source: Oregon legislative voting records: HB 2620 May 29, 2007

Bruce Broussard: Team with business for hybrid vehicles and renewables

Bruce Broussard has great respect for Oregon’s unique blend of natural resources and natural talent. We have a smart, creative base of human resources in Oregon that can boost our ailing economy. We’ve seen ways in which creativity has come to blend these forces and given rise to technologies such as hybrid vehicles, better use of renewable/unlimited energy sources, sustainable building designs, and recycled textiles. We are on the cutting edge here in Oregon. We have a great opportunity to bring the power and energy of ingenuity and respect for the environment together with business to create new jobs for Oregonians.
Source: 2004 Senate campaign website, broussardfororegon.com Aug 11, 2004

Winona LaDuke: Support alternative energy & industrial hemp

If she’s elected vice president, LaDuke says, she would lobby Congress to halt corporate subsidies and give the money to rural and urban communities in need of revitalization. She would encourage public agencies and private companies to work together to explore alternatives to nuclear energy, such as wind and solar power, and would promote recycling and the growing of industrial hemp.
Source: The Oregonian, “Activist Fire” Jul 12, 2000

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