What's ahead for climate action in Salem?
No corner of our state was left untouched by climate-fueled storms and harms last year.
We’re officially halfway through the 2023 legislative session here in Oregon, and there is A LOT to report about where we’re at on climate action.
The short version: Our top climate priorities for 2023 are still actively moving through the process and gaining momentum! Some other important legislative efforts have stalled and had some disappointing setbacks. Nothing is across the finish line yet, and the legislature is currently making hard choices due to a tight state budget, so we can’t stop pressing forward to ensure our elected leaders actually deliver on climate progress this year.
This year, Climate Solutions and many of our partner organizations have had a laser focus on ensuring the state legislature does two big things:
We are now past the first major legislative deadline of this year’s long session when policy bills were required to pass out of their first committee to still be considered “live” and move through the rest of the legislative process this session.
Great news so far on our top climate priority this session! I am happy to report that all Oregonians are closer to having access to safe and affordable homes and buildings that run on clean energy. The Senate Energy and Environment Committee voted to advance the Resilient, Efficient Buildings package of bills. It’s the first step to these bills becoming laws this year. These bills would supercharge the state’s efforts to ensure households and businesses can afford to upgrade to an electric heat pump. In addition, these bills help Oregonians weatherize and retrofit their home or business to make it more energy efficient and resilient. These policies are designed to leverage the massive amount of federal dollars available to Oregon to do this work now.
Together we have built incredible momentum, but we can’t stop now until the bills are through the legislative process and are signed into law. The next stop for the Building Resilience bills on their way through the process is the legislative budget committee (called the Joint Ways and Means Committee).
. Read our Resilient Building Coalition factsheet!
Congress recently passed historic legislation that will send billions of dollars into climate resilience, clean energy, and infrastructure to the states. Oregon is eligible for hundreds of millions of federal dollars for electrification, energy efficiency, and grid resilience but has received just a small amount so far. Fully leveraging federal funds requires us to expend a modest amount of state funds now. By doing so, we could see an exponential return on that investment, bringing benefits like more clean energy and resilient communities, grid and transmission improvements, zero-emission transportation, and job-creating clean energy projects. The Legislature needs to act in 2023 to position Oregon to maximize this once-in-a-generation funding infusion's economic and climate potential.
Unfortunately this year, the multi-million dollar question is whether the Legislature will actually fund the climate progress we desperately need at all. With the Governor and Joint Ways & Means co-chairs proposing across-the-board budget cuts, there’s a risk of slowing implementation of cornerstone climate programs, preventing new climate protections from being adopted, and hurting the State’s ability to leverage unprecedented federal investments in climate and communities. Legislators are currently deciding whether to invest in climate and communities or pour even more revenue into our already strong and healthy rainy day fund. We know that a modest investment today will help families have safer and cleaner homes, help communities reduce climate pollution, and create local clean energy jobs that can't be exported and will help our state weather any coming recession. Please see information below about how to urge the Ways & Means leadership to prioritize a strategic climate budget!
As Oregon accelerates the transition to a carbon-free grid, we need to make sure the state’s clean energy policy is consistent and inclusive of some of the state’s largest energy users. We also want to ensure how we transition to 100% clean energy results in economic benefits for communities across Oregon and increases resilience in the face of growing climate impacts. As the state transitions toward a cleaner and more equitable transportation system, leveraging federal funding to reduce the upfront cost of replacing diesel trucks, delivery vans, and buses with zero-emission vehicles is critical. These goals are reflected in the following bills:
There are other promising opportunities for climate progress moving forward this session as well. Those bills include SB 522 to finally update our outdated state greenhouse gas targets, SB 530 to maximize carbon sequestration and climate resiliency on our forests, agricultural lands, and wetlands, HB 2990 to fund community resilience hubs across the state, and HB 2613 to restore funding for the state’s popular EV rebate program. (This is not an exhaustive list!)
Last updated 4/25/2023
Read on for the latest updates on Climate Solutions' work in Oregon:
by Jonathan Lawson on July 1, 2021
Last weekend's record-breaking heat dome has largely passed, but continues to wreak havoc with heat-related deaths, power outages and wildfires
by Meredith Connolly on June 26, 2021
HUGE NEWS from Salem!! House Bill 2021, which commits Oregon to 100% clean, carbon-free energy by 2040, was just passed by the state legislature!
by Meredith Connolly on June 4, 2021
23 days. That’s how much time is left in the legislative session in Salem.
by Stephanie Noren on June 4, 2021
Climate tailwinds in Oregon, Ford reigns EV, and Big Oil shakedown in this week's ClimateCast
by Jonathan Lee on May 21, 2021
Washington State enters a new climate action phase, Oregon's EV incentives get a boost, and fossil fuels are declared incompatible with a healthy…
by Victoria Paykar on May 14, 2021
We need your help now to get these important bills across the finish line this session and get more EVs on our roads. But the work won’t stop there.
by Jonathan Lee on May 11, 2021
By committing to 100% clean energy, Oregon is investing in new job opportunities, economic recovery, healthier air, lower utility bills, and a safer…
by Jonathan Lee on April 21, 2021
Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution ensuring all new county-owned buildings—including libraries, courthouses,…
by Jonathan Lee on April 15, 2021
The Multnomah County Commission just unanimously approved a resolution that will ensure all new county buildings —including county libraries,…
by Jonathan Lee on April 14, 2021
This resolution ensures that all public buildings in Multnomah County, Oregon are built fossil-free from the start.
by Meredith Connolly on April 14, 2021
We're pleased to report forward progress on two of our high-priority climate bills.
by Jonathan Lee on March 30, 2021
Just over a year ago, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Executive Order
by Jonathan Lawson on March 26, 2021
Clean energy advocates in Oregon strategize for progress on electrical grid and EVs. Meanwhile, US banks are investing in climate chaos.
by Meredith Connolly on March 12, 2021
Oregon continues to pump out more climate pollution every year, but we can pass 100% Clean right now to lay the foundation for a clean energy-based…
Join our email list to learn about what we do and how to get involved.
No corner of our state was left untouched by climate-fueled storms and harms last year.