A new report and hearings by the state's House and Senate environment committees has put a cap-and-trade policy to curb carbon emissions back in play in Salem.
"The Oregon Legislature is again considering regulating carbon emissions, possibly in the form of a cap-and-trade system that would link to those already in place in California and Quebec," reports Tracy Loew.
A series of committee meetings in the state house and senate follows on the heels of a report released earlier this month by the state Department of Environmental Quality about the impacts of a cap-and-trade program.
"About 100 businesses around the state would be regulated if the program covered fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, electricity providers, and industrial emitters responsible for at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year," according to Loew.
"The system would have little impact on Oregon’s overall economy, DEQ found, although some industries, such as those competing with businesses in other states, could suffer," adds Loew.
Loew doesn't mention the political prospects of any cap-and-trade proposal that could come out of the recent discussions by the state legislature—past, failed attempts at similar legislation are given only passing mention.
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