CLIMATE CHANGE
The climate crisis is no longer something we have the luxury of trying to avoid; it is already upon us. Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more devastating, and smoke chokes our skies and our loved-ones’ lungs. Coastal communities face higher sea levels, while their fisheries are threatened by changing ocean conditions. Torrential rains in the winter flood our homes and communities, while summer droughts threaten farms and families around Oregon. Meanwhile, pollution from dirty energy production ravages the health of people of all ages in our frontline communities.
Our children’s future depends on the actions we take now.
As Governor, I will lead the effort to decarbonize our economy and avert the worst of this crisis. I will bring a renewed sense of urgency to building a clean energy economy and the critical infrastructure needed to meet the challenges we face.
Oregon is well-positioned to be a leader in addressing climate change, but only if the next Governor is committed to driving programs, policies and investments that touch every corner of our state. And the next Governor needs to be committed to reaching out to Oregonians in rural and urban areas and building a shared sense of commitment to making Oregon more resilient.
The stakes could not be higher, but we know what it takes to reduce climate emissions and create new opportunities for Oregonians: clean energy investments, decarbonizing our transportation sector, reducing building energy use and creating resilient communities across the state.
CLIMATE CHANGE PLATFORM.
- Implement Oregon’s recent commitment to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040 by working with stakeholders across industries and communities. Oregon should aggressively pursue an array of flexible, low-cost strategies– including energy storage, efficiency, load management, smart grids, renewable energy diversity, and scheduling accuracy–to more efficiently balance power systems loads and resources.
- Strategically increase financial incentives to reduce the cost of renewables, and energy storage and upgrades.
- Streamline, standardize, and better align permitting to get more clean, renewable energy projects online quickly, and work with BPA to assess grid efficiency.
- Establish an Offshore Wind Energy Deployment Fund to invest in Oregon’s offshore wind energy facility planning and development.
- Stimulate investment in, and development of, clean energy technology by increasing access to financing, loans and grants.
Oregon must decarbonize its transportation sector.
- Develop an updated statewide Transportation Electrification Plan that includes comprehensive investments in public charging infrastructure and lays out the path to achieving 100% Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035.
- Expand Electrical Vehicle and Electric bike tax credits, aimed at low and moderate income consumers and ensuring frontline communities aren’t left behind.
- Adopt a Commercial Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Fueling Infrastructure Tax Credit for businesses that purchase new alternative fuel commercial vehicles and install alternative fueling infrastructure. Work with fuel companies to identify long-term, high volume contracts targeted at renewable diesel (R99).
- Create an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Bank to deploy investments in charging stations. Oregon needs 150,000 public charging stations to reach our ZEV goals. Provide access to funding for multifamily housing developments to provide on-site charging.
- Invest in Safe Routes to School by building out walking, biking, and transit options.
- Require that ODOT perform Climate and Environmental Justice audits prior to any freeway expansion.
Oregon must reduce building energy use and improve residential health and safety.
- Incentivize homeowner adoption of high-efficiency electric heat pumps instead of gas furnaces and gas water heaters.
- Expand financial incentives by creating an early action incentive fund for commercial retrofit projects that exceed energy intensity targets.
- Expand investments into Oregon’s Healthy Homes Repair Fund that supports energy efficiency improvements, extends the usable life of residences, and improves the health and safety of the occupants.
- Revamp the State Home Oil Weatherization (SHOW) program into an electrification program by paying for efficiency measures and installation of heat pump technology.
Oregon must develop a new generation of affordable, 100% renewable housing opportunities
- Oregon must embrace innovation and be willing to embrace flexible policymaking. We should modify Oregon’s land use process to allow for a pilot program aimed at facilitating more affordable and sustainable renewable housing opportunities. Land outside growth boundaries would be made available to developers as long as:
- These developments go 100% renewable, including all-electric buildings, and no gas lines allowed into the new community.
- Possess 2-way EV charging at every building.
- Solar is integrated into rooftops, parking structures, all flat-roofed public infrastructure.
- Battery storage is integrated to balance the needs for resiliency in emergencies and maximize affordability by arbitraging the grid in normal times, with a focus on ensuring service at schools, libraries and community centers.
- Ensure the the capacity to be "island" free from the grid if necessary.
Oregon must build resilient communities in every corner of the state.
- Expand Oregon’s Carbon Protection Plan to include carbon sequestration projects on agricultural and forest lands, either through the use of alternative crops and ranching practices, or by encouraging forest owners to grow older trees that store more carbon.
- Direct DLCD to work with local governments to review how Oregon’s land use planning and development policies can better support green infrastructure and urban tree canopy expansion in neighborhoods vulnerable to extreme heat.
- Update Oregon’s Social Vulnerability Assessment, a roadmap for integrating social determinants and environmental justice into long-term climate change planning. Ensure high-efficiency cooling is available to at-risk low income populations to ensure climate mitigation is targeted at environmental justice priorities, and blends climate response with climate-efficient investments.
- Reduce Oregon’s wildfire risk by funding forest restoration collaboratives and supporting community colleges and vocational training programs to expand the workforce available to support forest health and fuel reduction projects. Strengthen the State of Oregon’s “militia model” of coordinating state wildfire response by expanding coordination across multiple state agencies.
- Expand grants to drought impacted water suppliers to improve water efficiency, address leaks, reduce demand, and provide water use efficiency-related mapping and training.
- Establish a Healthy Soils Program in the Oregon Department of Agriculture to support farm conservation management practices designed to sequester carbon within the soil through technical assistance and grants.
