Emissions Reporting Bill Moves Ahead In Salem

GOVERNMENT 

By Chris Lehman

Salem, OR  February 12, 2008 4:04 p.m.

Oregon lawmakers want to get a handle on how much greenhouse gas is being pumped into the air around the state.  It’s part of an effort to reduce the causes of global warming.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

A bill moving through the Oregon Legislature would require energy producers to report how much greenhouse gas emissions they produce.  Opponents say it’s a potentially costly undertaking.  

Republican lawmakers and lobbyists for agriculture and the timber industry also say it’s coming too soon.  But Democratic Representative Ben Cannon says the time to act is now.

Ben Cannon:  “I’m concerned, frankly, that we’re going to hear many of the same people who are opposing this bill now on the basis of the timing’s wrong for reporting, I’m concerned that we’re going to hear them a year from now saying ‘Well, we don’t have the information therefore how can we make a decision.”

The requirement also applies to the power that utilities import to the state.  So even if the greenhouse gas is emitted elsewhere, Oregon lawmakers still want to know about it.  

The information would be sent to the state’s newly formed Global Warming Commission.  They want to use the information as a baseline to develop carbon emissions policies.

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© 2008 OPB