Global Warming Legislation in Oregon
Oregon and Global Warming
Climate change will impact
farm and fisheries productivity and hydroelectric energy production.
Drier summers will lead to drought stress and vulnerability of forests
to fire, disease and insects. The economic consequences of global
warming cannot be ignored. Agriculture and forestry will be
dramatically disrupted. Loss of hydroelectric power will impact energy
costs. Oregon’s ski industry could disappear.
Fifty leading
economists recently warned Oregon that global warming comes with a big
price tag. The 2005 Economists' Consensus Report on the Impact of
Climate Change in Oregon indicates the state faces major economic costs
if global warming is not tackled.
Health Impacts in Oregon
Global warming will impact human health. Oregon will see an increase in unhealthy air days, as hotter summertime temperatures generate more smog. A longer pollen season will make life more uncomfortable for people with asthma and allergies. And cases of insect-borne diseases, such as encephalitis, will increase.
Oregon faces a tremendous challenge in addressing the global warming crisis. Our state is already feeling the economic and environmental impacts of increasing global temperatures and rising sea levels. In 2005, the Governor’s Global Warming Advisory Group released the Oregon Strategy for Greenhouse Gas Reductions, a comprehensive report that recommended taking strong action to halt global warming. The report prioritizes necessary first steps for Oregon to cut its carbon emissions.
During the 2007 Legislative Session, the Oregon Environmental Council’s former executive director participated in the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Global Warming, which adopted a set of ambitious goals in 2005 for reducing the state’s contribution to global warming and made a series of recommendations to begin reducing Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions. We are pleased to say that the 2007 Oregon Legislature has given these goals the weight of law by adopting them in statute.
The Legislature has also created an Oregon Global Warming Commission to coordinate local and state efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Oregon Environmental Council led the coalition effort to develop and pass this legislation, which sets the stage for establishing more meaningful and comprehensive legislation in the upcoming 2008 special session. We have already begun to develop state-level carbon reduction policies for consideration and the broad public support that will be needed to pass them.
Climate Change Integration Act (HB 3543)
Goal: Establish science-based goals for statewide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and provide for the coordination and implementation of strong global warming mitigation and adaptation measures in Oregon. The specific goals are to:
- By 2010, arrest the growth of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions and begin to reduce emissions;
- By 2020, achieve a 10% reduction below 1990 greenhouse gas levels; and
- By 2050, achieve at least 75% reduction below 1990 levels.
Oregon is already feeling the effects of global warming. The “Scientific Consensus Statement on the Likely Impacts of Climate Change on the Pacific Northwest” was issued by scientists with expertise on the impacts of climate change in the Pacific Northwest.
The scientists concluded that our region is warming, average annual precipitation has increased, land on the central and northern Oregon coast is being submerged by rising sea level, and the region’s snowpack has declined precipitously.
The consensus statement indicates these trends will continue. Changes in the hydrological system will result in coastal and river flooding, snowpack declines, and lower summer river flows.
