Joint letter supporting Multnomah County's proposed fossil-free public buildings resolution
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 Zach Baker on March 10, 2020
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has fulfilled her long-standing promise to take strong executive action to curb climate pollution. Learn more about what it…
by Jonathan Lee on March 6, 2020
Once again, a minority bloc of Republican lawmakers backed by big polluters – this time in both the Senate and the House – chose to break our…
by Meredith Connolly on February 24, 2020
Our #1 priority remains comprehensive statewide climate action. The bill to make this happen, Senate Bill 1530, was just passed by the joint budget…
by Meredith Connolly on February 7, 2020
by Jonathan Lawson on February 7, 2020
Climate progress confirmed as a top-tier political issue. Duh!
by Zach Baker on January 31, 2020
As we head into the 2020 session, we’re doing everything we can to ensure the Legislature passes a strong cap and invest policy. We’re also working…
by Jonathan Lee on January 27, 2020
This will be the biggest Salem Climate Action in 2020 Show our strength by standing toge
by Meredith Connolly on January 24, 2020
Climate and clean energy advocates are determined to make 2020 a year of climate progress in Oregon. Here's how.
by Jonathan Lee on January 6, 2020
A growing list of states and territories have adopted carbon pricing policies, enacted more robust low-carbon fuel standards, and committed to a…
by Devon Downeysmith on December 20, 2019
What it's like to read climate news every day: some days, it’s inspiring. Other days, it weighs heavy on the heart.
by Jonathan Lee on December 4, 2019
We need one more big push to make clear to AAA of Oregon and other corporate interests that blocking climate action is bad for business.
by Jonathan Lee on October 31, 2019
Earlier this week, our coalition of partners officially filed critical climate protection ballot measures with the Oregon Secretary of State's office…
by Meredith Connolly on September 12, 2019
The end of Oregon’s 2019 legislative session exposed some of the egregious corporate lobbying in Salem that blocks climate action – sometimes in…
by Jonathan Lee on August 28, 2019
Governor Kate Brown announced today that she supports calling the Oregon State Legislature into a special session, but addressing the climate crisis…
by Jonathan Lee on August 1, 2019
Oregon's legislature just established an ambitious statewide timeline for adopting zero-emission cars, buses, and commercial vehicles.
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