Salem Political Snark

Salem City Club sparks outrage with one-sided garbage burner program

It hurts when an organization you like screws up, then offers up a weak explanation for why the screw-up happened.

That's why I'm so disappointed with the Salem City Club, which has decided to only have Marion County representatives speak at a February 21 program about the Covanta garbage burner in Brooks -- a decision that has outraged environmentalists who urged the City Club to also have someone speak about the downsides of the garbage burner.

Which are many, as this excerpt from an Oregon League of Conservation Voters post says.

When you think of clean energy, what do you think of? If you’re like most people, you think of wind turbines on a gusty hill, or solar panels on a sunny rooftop. If you’re like Covanta — one of the biggest waste-incineration plants in Oregon — you think of burning trash.

But waste incineration is by no means clean energy. Burning trash contributes heavily to air pollution, and to climate change. In fact, on many levels, it’s far worse than fossil fuels. Covanta’s waste incineration plant adds nitrogen oxides, dioxins, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and heavy metals into the air, putting nearby communities at risk of severe asthma attacks, birth defects, strokes, and respiratory problems. That’s anything but clean.

Last week I was included in email exchanges between environmentalists from the local chapter of 350.org and City Club members in charge of the garbage burner program. My sympathies then, as now, are with the environmentalists.

For after failing to have the Oregon legislature approve a bill in 2019 that would grant Renewable Energy Credits to Covanta, there's another effort underway in the upcoming 2020 short legislative session to pass a similar bill.

Here's a message that Andy Harris sent to state Representative Brian Clem on this subject.

January 11, 2020

Dear Brian [Rep. Clem],

 

I have known you for many years through Salem City Club and have valued and supported your positions on most legislative issues, in particular on climate and health. However, in my opinion your support of renewable energy credits for Covanta Marion is an unfortunate mistake. I would encourage you to stand up to political pressures from Marion Co. Commissioners, Senate President Courtney, and industry apologists.

 

Much has changed since Covanta Marion was first approved and constructed in the mid-80s. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) have become more of a known threat to the heating of our planet. We now know that the incinerator, which burns plastics, medical waste and municipal trash, is the state’s 19th largest industrial producer of GHGs. We also know that when waste is burned, nearly all of the carbon is immediately emitted into the atmosphere as a Greenhouse Gas (GHG).  

 

Incinerators accelerate the release of GHGs and speed up the process of global heating, whereas landfills slow the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. At a modern landfill, such as Coffin Butte, about three quarters (74% - 81%) of the GHGs remain sequestered indefinitely, especially the carbon sequestered in plastics. Landfill technology has further improved so that about half of the methane released at Coffin Butte is captured and used as an energy source.  

 

The term renewable energy credits [RECs] refers to naturally renewing resources.  RECs are intended to encourage the development of clean, new sources of energy, like solar and wind power, not for energy from burning dirty garbage and medical waste.

 

Covanta Marion not only releases GHGs into the atmosphere, it spews heavy metals and toxic chemicals into the air we breathe. The toxic emissions that go out the stack are dispersed over the countryside, waterways, towns and schools, where they can harm human health and wildlife. The heavy metals include lead and cadmium from the burning of paper and cardboard.

 

Ingestion of these compounds by children causes learning disabilities, lowered IQ, hyperactivity and attention deficit.  Other heavy metals emitted by Covanta Marion include zinc, mercury, copper, and nickel. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has named the incinerator one of its top priorities for reducing toxic air pollution.

 

Moreover, incineration of solid waste at Covanta incinerator creates new compounds like dioxins, the active ingredients in Agent Orange and the most toxic chemicals on the planet, other than radioactive isotopes. Dioxins are formed when organic material (like wood and paper) are heated and cooled in the presence of chloride products (like PVCs from medical waste plastics).

 

Dioxins also are created and released by the burning of wood products treated with creosote and other chemical preservatives, and by the burning of materials impregnated with flame retardants. Dioxins are carcinogenic, cause birth defects, are powerful endocrine disrupters, suppress the immune system, and decrease fertility.

 

Incineration does not make solid waste magically disappear. One quarter of all the trash burned remains as residual bottom ash and fly ash, a toxic brew of heavy metals and chemicals that must then be trucked [to] a landfill, an additional trip that emits more diesel exhaust into our communities.

 

Covanta Marion incinerator would have us believe that they need renewable energy credits to remain in business, despite the fact that they have been profitable since 1987 without RECs. The intent of any legislation should be to award RECs to encourage new, innovative, clean energy sources, rather than to subsidize the burning of toxic municipal and medical waste. After 33 years of operation, it is time to close down this old, polluting incinerator for the health of our planet and the health of our people. 

 

Thank you for your careful consideration. 

 

Sincerely yours,

Andy Harris, MD

Board of Directors

Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

 

So Marion County, which handles the Covanta contract and is overseen by an all-Republican Board of Commissioners who, so far as I know, are all global warming deniers (Sam Brentano definitely is), gets to use the February 21 City Club program to present a one-sided view of how wonderful the Covanta garbage burner is, and why renewable energy credits should be bestowed on the Covanta corporation.

This makes no sense to me, especially since February 21 is right in the middle of the February 3 - March 7 legislative session.

By not allowing an environmentalist like Andy Harris to be able to refute the claims of the Marion County representatives who will have the podium all to themselves, the Salem City Club has chosen to align itself with one-side of the Covanta garbage burner debate -- which happens to be the side that has the least scientific credibility, in my view.

Yet here's a screenshot of the February 21 City Club program description:

Wow. There's so much wrong with this. "Differing scientific opinion" is how global warming deniers rationalize their refusal to acknowledge the scientific consensus around climate change. 

I don't believe there is a valid scientific case to be made in favor of allowing the Covanta garbage burner to continue spewing pollutants.

Yet the City Club is only allowing Marion County representatives to speak on February 21, where, according to the program, the representatives will explain why continued support of the garbage burner is justified, along with Covanta's effort to get renewable energy credits.

Why isn't the City Club presenting both sides of what it calls "differing scientific opinion"? As a long-time City Club member, this bothers me. A lot. 

Tonight I did get a message from someone who was tasked with trying to explain to us skeptics why the City Club is handling the garbage burner program the way it is. Below is the message, which I don't find very persuasive.

I deeply doubt that the Marion County representatives are going to present the scientific case against the Covanta garbage burner, or will limit their talk to being an "information session only."

Thus I think the Salem City Club is making a big mistake by not allowing both sides to speak on February 21, and will end up regretting having chosen to give Marion County free rein to praise the highly polluting garbage burner. The City Club person said:

We have thought of this impending program long and hard, and have conceived of it from the start as hearing Marion County's position on this controversial issue.

 

We understand that there are very strongly held alternative beliefs, and during the program we will both make that clear and insist that the Marion County representative also does that. But we felt at the time, and continue to feel, that the technological and financial implications of the whole issue are complicated enough to merit an information session solely. 

 

Personally, I am coming to the position that a pro/con session (call it a debate or not...) might well be unsatisfactory to everyone and serve to confuse the issue. This is not consistent with the purposes of the City Club, as I hope you will agree.

 

The County, furthermore, is the public sector entity that is ultimately responsible for the decision, (whether we like that or not) and they control the budgetary and licensing implications for all of us.

   

Further, however, I agree with you that they are ultimately responsible for taking into account in their decision the environmental health of their constituents -- possibly a more important consideration than the financial.  (I personally would intend to bring that issue up immediately in the question and answer period.)

 

Also, personally, I think the issue of green energy credits for such an operation is somewhere between a real stretch and a farce. And I realize that issue will be before the Legislature as we speak. 

 

However, I tend to discount any argument that the timing, therefore, is unfortunate. I'm not sure there's any relationship that we should worry about. We are not speaking in our program to support or not for that bill -- it wasn't an issue when we first had contact with Marion County last fall about doing this program. 

   

I hope you attend and listen carefully to the program. Your thoughts, then and now, are welcome.

 

Well, just City Club members are allowed to ask questions. Others only get to ask a question if no City Club members have raised their hand to do so.

 

Further, it is emphasized that questions should be just that, not statements. So it will be very difficult for members of the audience to refute what the Marion County representatives say in the brief period allowed for questions.

Oregon's urban-rural divide explained by political scientist

So, why is there such a tension between people in rural Oregon and urban Oregon?

We saw this divide in action earlier in 2019, when Republicans in the state Senate walked out in protest of a climate change bill, supported by loggers driving their trucks in circles around the Capitol building, horns blaring.

Today a political scientist from Western Oregon University, Mark Henkels, offered up some explanations of what's going on here in the course of his presentation at a Salem City Club meeting, It's Complicated: The Politics of Oregon's Rural-Urban Divide.

Mark Henkels

Early on in his talk, Henkels defined "urban" and "rural" as applied to Oregon counties. He considers that our state has six urban counties: Benton, Clackamas, Lane, Marion, Multnomah, and Washington. The rest of the state is rural.

He said that because Salem is the second or third largest city in Oregon, that argues for Marion County being urban. Deschutes County includes Bend, so arguably it is semi-urban, but not enough to make his urban cut.

No big surprise: currently rural Oregon is more Republican than urban Oregon.

But back in 1988, that wasn't the case. Democrats even had a slight edge over Republicans in rural areas, 47% to 41%. (Henkels did mention that many of the Dems were Reagan voters who hadn't changed their registration.) And in urban areas Democrats and Republicans each had 44%.

Much had changed by 2018.

Rural Oregon was only 27% Democratic, a drop of twenty points, while Republican registration declined by only eight points to 33%, with non-affiliated voters jumping markedly from 13% to 33%. In urban areas, Democrats had come to vastly outnumber Republicans, 41% to 21%, with non-affiliated voters rising to 31% of the electorate.

Henkels considers that economic trends explain much of the political changes. 

Rural Oregon still tilts toward agricultural and industrial sectors, while urban Oregon has become largely post-industrial. Meaning, services, high-tech, medical, and education sectors. Post-industrial workers are more diverse. They move around a lot. They go where the jobs are.

By contrast, traditionally a family farm often was worked by succeeding generations, and a child might follow a parent in working at the same industrial plant. 

Agriculture and industry tend to foster social stability, traditional values, and a desire to preserve the existing economy. Henkels called this cluster "material" values, which doesn't really mean materialistic or non-spiritual. Rather, I took that term to mean a connection to what already exists, a conservative clinging to the things that have worked in the past.

Urban areas in Oregon tend to embrace post-materialist values.

Quality of life is as important, if not more so, than how much money someone makes. Protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are valued goals. This slide shows how drastically rural Oregon and urban Oregon differ in this regard.

A whopping 59% of the Portland metro area holds post-materialist values, while all urban areas are at 46% and rural areas only 17%. Looking at political leaning rather than geography, 49% of liberals are post-materialist, while moderates are at 33% and conservatives at 18%.

While this is my take, not that of Henkels, it seems to me that it's totally wrong to say that rural conservatives are "values voters." Actually, urban liberals hold equally strong values, just different ones. It means as much to a Portland progressive that Oregon does more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as it means to an Eastern Oregon conservative that logging jobs be protected.

Along that line, this slide shows that more lumber is being produced with fewer mills, and hence fewer workers. Henkels said this mirrors trends in other American industries, with automation and production in foreign countries leading to industrial job losses in this country.

So Henkels noted there isn't an easy answer to the question, "What is it like to be a true Oregonian?" People with widely divergent values or political leanings can say with equal fervor, "I'm an Oregonian. This is the way it should be."

One reason the urban-rural divide has become so extreme is that political beliefs in general have become more extreme. The slide above shows the distribution of Democrats and Republicans on a scale of political values. The vertical lines show the median value on the scale, so the closer the two lines are, the more closely Democrats and Republicans agree.  

The gap has widened markedly since 2004.

Exacerbating this tribalism, Henkels said that politics has become nationalized, with candidates in local elections taking on national party positions to a greater extent than before. And increasingly people get their news and opinions from different media outlets, Fox News vs. MSNBC being one example. He also noted that in many rural parts of Oregon, conservative talk radio from national sources is ubiquitous, whereas urban areas have more choices.

On the plus side, near the end of his talk Henkels said that Oregonians share a lot of values. We value good education and quality health care. We agree about environmental protections in some areas, such as preserving salmon runs. We value aging services, an area that Oregon has been a pioneer in.

The suburbs and growing cities like Bend could become the new middle ground. A more complex economy in rural areas likely would narrow the values gap between urban and rural Oregon.

In the Q&A period, Henkels talked some about Oregon's land use system. Rural people often blame urban growth boundaries and other aspects of our land use laws for the problems facing the agricultural and industrial sectors. However, he noted that the area outside Sacramento looks very different from the area outside Salem, even though both are state capitals.

Oregon has considerably more protections for agricultural land, which is why we have farmland so close to urban areas, rather than sprawling subdivisions. So farmers should be thankful for our land use system, though naturally there's room for improvement in it.

Oregon Republican Party platform showcases GOP craziness

I'm a firm believer that Republicans here in Oregon are just about as extreme as those, say, in Alabama.

Members of the GOP in our state often just try to look moderate, because they know that with only 26% of registered voters in Oregon identifying as Republican, it's an uphill battle for them to win statewide elections.

(Democrats are at 35% and Non-affiliated are at 32%).

But I think Oregon Republicans should be proud of their extremism. Rock on, crazy conservatives! Don't hide your right-wingless. Flaunt it!

To that end, I'm pleased to share some highlights -- OK, for many, lowlights -- from the official 2019 platform of the Oregon Republican Party. You can read the whole thing by clicking below. 
Download Oregon Republican Party platform

This is what you're supporting if you vote for an Oregon Republican. I've added my own irreverent progressive take on each platform item in red. 
----------------------------
We support the full repeal of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and oppose any efforts to implement similar provisions at the state level.

Oregon GOP wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Plus, no health care replacement by Oregon. I guess praying to have your cancer cured is the Republican health care plan.

Marriage is between one man and one woman.

Who says? Not the United States Supreme Court. And not the many happily married same-sex couples in Oregon. The Republican Party is on the wrong side of both love and history.

There are only two sexes, male and female, based on a person’s biological sex at birth. We oppose unassigned gender identity at birth. We encourage the natural expression of those genders, masculine and feminine. We affirm that both are valuable in the raising of children.

Hmmmm. This goes against science, which finds a strong genetic component in the many varieties of sexual expression and attraction. Also, it sounds like the Oregon GOP is against same-sex couples raising children.

We believe individuals have the right to protect themselves, their livestock, and domesticated animals from predators, regardless of the predators’ species federal or state protection status.

Kill them wolves! Who cares if there are so few of them in Oregon, and so many cattle. 

Each Oregon educational facility should encourage trained district personnel to be armed in order to protect themselves and their students from violence. We oppose gun free zones.

Gosh, what could go wrong with teachers having guns in classrooms? Except, everything.

We support the delisting of species protected by the State or Federal Government at the earliest opportunity, based on the complete and timely implementation of the recovery plans or if there is a low probability of recovery.

I remember when conservatives actually believed in conservation. Those days are long gone. Endangered species are doubly endangered when Republicans are in control of government.

Every person has a fundamental right to life that begins at conception and endures to the natural conclusion of life. We strongly oppose abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, including any government funding of these deadly practices.

I also remember when abortion was illegal and women died from botched terminations of pregnancies. Is that a "natural conclusion of life"? Plus, Oregonians believe in the right of terminally ill people to choose assisted suicide when their suffering is too extreme. It's shameful that the GOP doesn't.

We oppose reintroduction or protection of any fish, wildlife, or plant species in Oregon unless there is valid, peer-reviewed scientific data and the consent of state and local government.

Sure, why not have the Harney County Board of Commissioners decide whether a species should go extinct in Oregon? (Answer, there are lots of reasons this is a really bad idea.)

It is the role of parents or legal guardians to direct topics of education concerning human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, ethics, and moral values. Governmental or public agencies shall obtain written permission before discussing sex and/or gender-related subjects with minor age children and shall not penalize families for opting out.

Sex education in schools is scary to Oregon Republicans. Maybe they should trust teachers more and their fundamentalist Christianity less.

Parents or legal guardians are the final authority in deciding what is best for their children; they must receive full disclosure and give written permission before any healthcare services, outside referrals, content, or materials are distributed to their children. No person shall be forced to undergo any healthcare services as a condition of school enrollment or attendance.

Like immunizations? Are you really that bad at medical science, Oregon GOP?

We support the constitutional protection of private property rights, including the rights of prospectors and small-scale miners.

Sure, people have a perfect right to ruin fish habitat and wreck the environment so they can play gold miner. NOT!

We oppose international environmental treaties or agreements with organizations using environmental issues for social engineering and/or global control.

Ooh, global control. Scary! Except the leaders of almost every nation on Earth support efforts to fight global warming other than our Idiot-in-Chief, Donald Trump.

We believe that no corporation should be above the law. We do not support bailouts; businesses should be allowed to succeed or fail.

Hey, I hope Trump pays attention to this platform item of the Oregon GOP. He's determined to save the failing coal industry, and give bailouts to farmers being hurt by his trade wars.

We affirm that the President of the United States must adhere to the constitutional separation of powers by seeking and receiving Congressional authorization for any act of war and by seeking and receiving Senate approval for any treaty.

Wow, another platform item I agree with. Trump can't go to war against Iran, or any other country, without Congressional authorization. 

Gov. Brown and Salem Reporter shine in climate bill saga

After being deeply upset with how Democrats and Republicans behaved in the walkout of GOP members of the state Senate over HB 2020, a cap and trade climate bill, it's great to find some bright spots in this saga -- Governor Kate Brown and Aubrey Wieber, a Salem Reporter journalist.

Governor Kate Brown has earned back my admiration after she responded to the first May walkout of Republican senators by agreeing to kill two bills that were opposed by the GOP, being Democratic priorities  (a pro-vaccine bill and a gun control bill).

I thought this bad move would encourage Republicans to test Democratic resolve later in the legislative session. But I figured such would happen in the House, not the Senate, since GOP members of the Senate had agreed not to walk out again for the rest of the session.

They lied.

Pleasingly, it appears that Brown didn't give up anything of importance in the second walkout. After ordering the Oregon State Police to find the Republican senators who had deserted their posts, they came back on their own and played nice, mostly, during a rush to vote on over a hundred backed-up bills last weekend. 

Brown inspired the crowd at a pro-climate bill rally last Tuesday in her brief but passionate remarks, even though Senate President Courtney had declared HB 2020 dead earlier in the day given lackluster support among Senate Democrats. 

So there's a good chance the walkout of Senate Republicans had no effect on the passage of HB 2020, given that at least three Senate Democrats were either strong No's or leaning that way prior to the walkout.

Today Governor Brown made a strong statement in favor of pursuing the carbon pollution reduction goals of HB 2020, either through executive action or reintroduction of the climate bill. Here's the first part of a Salem Reporter story by Aubrey Wieber, "Governor threatens to do by rule what she couldn't by legislation."

Less than 24 hours after the 2019 Legislature closed, Gov. Kate Brown renewed the fight for a cap and trade program, saying Monday she might act with her executive authority to drive ahead with the hotly contested environmental policy.

“Let me be very, very clear,” Brown said. “I am not backing down.”

She spoke on the heels of a major political collapse last week, when Senate Republicans doomed a vote on House Bill 2020. The legislation, setting up a market-based credit system to force polluting industries to reform, had passed the House and was one vote away in the Democratically controlled Senate from becoming state law.

Brown wasn’t taking her most significant legislative loss lightly.

Brown said she wants to see action sooner than later, and is open to calling a special session to again advance the legislation.

“I believe the bill needs some fine-tuning, but I don’t think it needs to be entirely rebuilt,” she said.

Brown said she campaigned on cap and trade, as did many Democratic legislators elected in November. Recent polling shows climate legislation is popular among Oregonians, though more so in urban areas. Her plan was backed by most Oregon voters, she said.

Excellent. Very heartening. Makes me hopeful that Oregon will be a leader in fighting global warming.

It's great that Brown and Democratic leaders in the state legislature, with the notable exception of increasingly useless Senate President Courtney, are standing firm against Republican efforts to declare HB 2020 dead and gone forever, which, clearly, it isn't.

I followed news about the walkout of Republican senators, and what happened after they returned, with rapt attention.

Journalists with the Oregonian, Statesman Journal, and Willamette Week all did very good reporting. But I consider that Aubrey Wieber and his colleagues at the online-only Salem Reporter stood out from the journalistic pack.

Political junkie that I am, Wieber's frequent tweets on Twitter were highly appreciated, especially during the drama in the Senate last Saturday and Sunday. On Twitter I also follow reporters from the newspapers I just mentioned.

Wieber blew them away with his cogent, informative, and grammatically correct tweets. (Yeah, I'm old fashioned. I like complete sentences and accurate spelling in tweets.) I had the feeling that I was looking over the shoulder of a skilled reporter as he observed the machinations in the state Senate, telling his Twitter followers what was going on.

I realize that many people consider Twitter to be an annoying echo chamber of little value. However, it also can be the best means of conveying breaking news, which Wieber masterfully did. As far as I could tell, he was on duty at the legislature for very long hours over the weekend. 

Hopefully Wieber will get a vacation soon, because he deserves one. For not only did he excel on Twitter, his "long form" stories in Salem Reporter were marvelously written as well.

Oregon democracy threatened by Senate GOP walkout

It wasn't pleasant, but I forced myself to read How Democracies Die by two professors of government at Harvard University, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. 

This is a scary book that, when I read it, seemed like it contained warnings for the United States as a whole in our age of Trumpism, with Oregon being immune from the worst of the ways democracies die.

But the current walkout of Senate Republicans from the state legislature is a clear and present danger to Oregon democracy. This was a message of the recent rally at the capitol by supporters of the climate bill that the Republicans are preventing a vote on, due to their walkout making it impossible for the Senate to have a quorum.

Speakers and signs at the rally noted the threat to democracy that the walkout poses. 

Sure, walkouts have been used for leverage previously by both Democrats and Republicans in the Oregon legislature. However, those walkouts only lasted a few days and were designed to draw attention to an issue, not to bring legislative proceedings to a halt.

Here's why this walkout is so dangerous to democracy.

(1) Senate Republicans are refusing to return to Salem unless they get a guarantee that the climate bill, HB 2020, won't pass. This isn't how democracy works. Votes are taken. Surprises happen in voting. Legislators can change their minds at the last minute. It appears that there aren't enough votes to pass HB 2020, but this can't be guaranteed. 

(2) Democracy respects majority rule. Republicans are in the minority in both the state House and Senate. This was the will of the people. Yet Senate Republicans are acting as if they are the majority party. They're claiming they speak for most Oregonians, but obviously they don't, or they'd control the legislature.

(3) Refusing to take part in the legislative process unless your demands are met is hostage-taking, plain and simple. Strong-arm tactics can't be tolerated in a democracy. As others have noted, what the Senate Republicans are doing is a form of lawmaking terrorism. Winning the hearts and minds of voters should be how a party succeeds in lawmaking, not by engaging in temper tantrums that bring the legislative process to a standstill.

(4) Sen. Brian Boquist, a Republican taking part in the walkout, threatened Oregon State Police troopers with bodily harm (shooting) if they tried to enforce Governor Brown's lawful order to find the Senate Republicans and bring them back to the legislature. Militia members have offered to protect the Senate Republicans. 

(5) Senate Republicans also staged a walkout in May, which unfortunately led to Democratic leaders giving in on several of their demands, including killing two bills that were Democratic priorities. The Senate Republicans agreed in writing to not walkout again for the rest of the legislative session. But they lied, given their second walkout.

In How Democracies Die there's a lot of talk about norms, basically unwritten rules, that need to be followed for democracies to work. Trump, of course, has been demolishing presidential norms almost daily. I'd hoped that Oregon would escape similar Republican craziness. 

Here's a passage from the book:

A second norm critical to democracy's survival is what we call institutional forbearance. Forbearance means "patient self-control; restraint and tolerance," or "the action of restraining from exercising a legal right."

For our purposes, institutional forbearance can be thought of as avoiding actions that, while respecting the letter of the law, obviously violate its spirit.

Where norms of forbearance are strong, politicians do not use their institutional prerogatives to the hilt, even if it is technically legal to do so, for such actions could imperil the existing system.

How the walkout is resolved thus is all-important. In no way, not even in the slightest, should the Senate Republicans be rewarded for what they've done. 

Governor Brown and Senate President Courtney should do these things:

-- Enforce the statutory $500 a day fine for failing to carry out legislative duties
-- Make sure GOP senators aren't able to use campaign funds to pay their fines
-- Have a vote on HB 2020 as required by Senate rules
-- Publicize the agreement GOP senators broke when they walked out a second time
-- Call the senators liars for walking out when they promised not to
-- Say over and over that if HB 2020 isn't enacted this year, it will be reintroduced every year until it does pass
-- Affirm that never again will a walkout of legislators be rewarded in any fashion

Lastly, here's a passage from an excellent Rolling Stone story published today, "Runaway Senators, Militias, and Koch Money: What the Hell Just Happened in Oregon?"

Thanks to Rolling Stone for calling this debacle what it is: Republicans ratfucking the legislative process. (Except rats have more ethics than Senate Republicans.)

The Republican War on Democracy has taken many forms — from extreme gerrymandering, to undermining voting rights through voter-ID laws and disenfranchising people with criminal records, to the Trump administration’s foiled attempt to rig the census in favor of white people. In Oregon, Republicans have chosen a different tactic: ratfucking the legislative process, while making open threats of violence.

Salem Climate Rally -- photos, video, commentary

Here's inspiring photos of the Climate Rally in support of HB 2020 that I took yesterday on the capitol steps, plus a video of Gov. Brown's remarks.

Even though Democratic leaders have declared the bill to be dead, I and other supporters of reducing carbon pollution and creating renewal energy jobs still have hope.

Senate Republicans need to end their walkout temper tantrum and vote on HB 2020, along with other legislation they're holding up.

Climate bill is dead. So are Oregon Democrats, to me.

It's time for me to face reality. Democrats here in Oregon aren't willing to fight for what they believe in. So why should I remain an active Democrat?

That's a question I'm grappling with after Governor Kate Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney, and other Democratic leaders in the state legislature unilaterally surrendered to Republicans on a top priority for Dems, HB 2020, a cap and trade bill that would have put Oregon in the forefront of efforts to combat the carbon pollution that is wreaking havoc on our planet.

Shortly before noon today I arrived at the steps of the capitol building to take part in a rally in support of HB 2020. I wasn't aware that earlier in the morning Courtney had said that the bill was dead. 

Not because a vote had been taken, and there weren't enough Senators in favor of the bill to pass it. (The Oregon House already passed HB 2020).

No, Courtney just said that the bill was dead. Apparently there isn't going to be a Senate vote, so it looks like we'll never know if Courtney's vote-counting was correct, or if a legislator with doubts about HB 2020 could have been persuaded to support the bill.

I'm depressed right now because I wrongly thought that I lived in a state where Democrats are passionate about progressive causes. I believed that Oregon was an oasis of progressive sanity in a country where Trump-led Republicans are acting increasingly crazy.

Like, the Republican members of the Oregon Senate walking out this year not once, but twice, to deny a quorum in the Senate, which requires 20 of the 30 senators to be present (there are 18 Democrats and 12 Republicans).

I couldn't believe it when Brown, Courtney, and other Dem leaders rewarded the first Republican walkout in May by killing two bills the GOP detested, just to get them to return to the legislature and do the job they're required by law to perform. Giving in to hostage-taking generally results in more hostage-taking.

Which, not surprisingly, happened again this month, even though Senate Republicans had promised to not engage in any more temper tantrum walkouts. They lied, as Republicans often do in this age of Trump.

A central demand of Senate Republicans, who reportedly were on vacation in Idaho, was that Oregonians be able to vote on HB 2020. That was an unreasonable demand, since the climate bill has been ten years in the making and was debated extensively in not only this legislative session, but the previous session.

I figured that Democrats would hang tough.

After all, Gov. Brown claimed to be a big backer of HB 2020. She said she'd call a special session in early July if the Senate Republican walkout lasted until the statutory end of the regular session on June 30. Democrats have supermajorities in both the state House and Senate. Oregonians care deeply about the environment.

Again, I figured wrong.

Courtney and Brown collapsed like a house of cards in a hurricane. Today they both declared that HB 2020 was dead without a vote being taken. And from what I can tell from newspaper stories, there won't ever be a vote on the climate bill -- likely to avoid making it clear who the three Democrats are who oppose HB 2020.

A Salem Reporter story describes what happened after Courtney made his surprise announcement.

Looking down at Courtney was a gallery full of supporters of cap and trade, mostly teens, that had traveled to the Capitol to show their support. 

As it became clear Courtney was telegraphing a message to Senate Republicans, whom he wants to return to the Capitol, a man stood and directed the crowd to stand and turn their backs on the Senate President, showing their disdain for his words. 

Brad Reed, spokesman for Renew Oregon, the chief advocacy group pushing cap and trade, said Courtney's words came as a shock. Sixteen senators had given the group confirmation they would vote for it, he said.

"Instead of having the Senate vote on the floor and stand up to the public, the Senate President is allowing members to hide behind a contradictory statement. Make them vote and answer to their voters and Oregon's children," Reed said in a statement after the speech. "This is the biggest failure of public leadership in Oregon in recent memory."

That's putting it mildly.

I've lived in Oregon since 1971. I can't remember any more cowardly action by a state elected official than Governor Brown and Senate President Courtney rewarding Republican walkouts twice by killing important bills that were top Democratic priorities.

It's tough for me to find anything positive in this debacle.

What the Dems have done is establish a deeply dangerous precedent. Whenever Republicans in either the state House or Senate are in the minority, yet have enough members to deny a quorum, all they have to do is walk out, head to a conservative state like Idaho, and wait for Democratic leaders to give in to their demands. 

On social media I've been seeing progressives optimistically say that even though the climate bill is dead now, it can come back to life in another legislative session. Huh? How? This will be impossible unless Democrats have walkout-proof majorities in both the House and Senate.

And that doesn't just mean enough members with a "D" after their names, because in this session two Democratic senators, Betsy Johnson and Arnie Roblan, have said they oppose HB 2020 and so likely would support another Republican walkout. 

The only good news I can dredge up in my mind is that I now can delete email messages from the Oregon Democratic Party and Governor Brown without reading them. When they start fighting for what progressives like me believe in, I'll feel better about my Democratic registration. 

Until then, I'll oppose crazy Republican policies, but I'll admire the GOP in this state for using every tool at their disposal to stand up for what they value. I just wish Oregon Democrats would do the same.

Note: on Facebook today I shared a single photo (shown above) out of the many I took at the noon rally in support of HB 2020 today, saying that I'd share more photos and a video of Brown speaking later.

But now I see no point in doing that, since it would simply depress me further to recollect the passion of real environmental advocates, including many young people, who've been screwed over by Brown, Courtney, and other Democratic leaders. 

Well, since I'd already uploaded the video of Brown speaking to You Tube, I might as well share it. When I heard Gov. Brown, I wasn't aware that she'd called HB 2020 dead. This explains her call for patience in the video. Our planet needs urgent climate action, but Brown is fine with waiting years or decades for Oregon to do our part. 

UPDATE: One of the few bright spots on social media following the announcement that HB 2020 was dead came from Rep. Paul Evans. I liked what he said a lot, and agree wholeheartedly with Evans.

But Republican Senator Kim Thatcher didn't like his mention of "terrorists," so Willamette Week is reporting that she's not inclined to return to the legislature, even after the Dems declared the climate bill dead. Well, that's what happens when Democrats give in to legislative terrorism.

Willamette Week also has obtained a copy of the May agreement between Senate Republicans and Democratic leadership where, as noted above, the Dems killed two bills in exchange for the Republicans promising not to walk out again for the rest of the session. 

Instead of making the Republicans hold up their end of the agreement, Courtney and Brown now have declared HB 2020 dead in the (likely vain) hope that this will bring Senate Republicans back to Salem. Excerpt:

WW has obtained the one-page document that formed the basis for Senate Republicans coming back to work May 13, after the first time this session they fled the Capitol to deny Democrats a quorum.

The document included a pledge not to walk out again. Yet Senate Republicans walked out a second time last week.

...The fact that GOP senators aren't back in Salem yet supports the widespread belief in the Capitol that their second walk-out was about more than HB 2020, that it was about figuring out how to undercut other Democratic priorities, including the corporate tax passed earlier in the session and is set for referral.

The existence of the May 13 document also makes more puzzling Courtney's decision this morning to announce on the Senate floor that he did not have the 16 Democratic votes necessary to pass HB 2020. Rather than trying to hold Republicans to the agreement, Courtney capitulated.

The more I learn about this fiasco, the more irritated I get at how spineless Oregon Democrats allowed Senate Republicans to get away with two walkouts and being able to take credit for killing the cap and trade bill.

Since this story is being discussed nationally, the cowardice shown by Dems in this state likely will embolden Republicans elsewhere to take advantage of Democratic weakness. After all, if Republicans can bend Democrats to their will in a blue state like Oregon, they should be able to do it in other areas also.

Walkout of Senate GOP gives Oregon bragging rights

I'm trying to find a bright spot in the irritating walkout of eleven Republican members of the state Senate. They're opposed to a bill that has a pretty damn good rationale behind it: preserving our one and only Earth for human habitation. 

But since these ignoramuses in the GOP view carbon pollution and global warming as a good thing -- plants grow faster! summer all year long! -- they're determined to give the finger to democracy and prevent a Senate vote on the Oregon Clean Jobs bill for as long as possible.

About the only good thing I can find in this debacle is that now no one can say that Oregon has Republican politicians that are nicer, less extreme, and more courteous that Republicans elsewhere in the country.

Hey, our GOP is just as off-the-rails as Alabama! The only reason Oregon isn't stuck in the muck of right-wing craziness is that our voters have the good sense to elect a Democratic governor and Dem supermajorities in both the state House and Senate.

A little thing like giving voters the respect they deserve didn't stop Republican members of the Senate from fleeing out-of-state, though, where they've said they'll remain until their temper tantrum is rewarded by changes to the Oregon Clean Jobs bill that Democrats would be insane to go along with.

After all, anybody who has experienced life with a toddler or puppy knows that you don't reward bad behavior. That's why I was so pissed at Democratic leaders, including Governor Brown, when they agreed to kill two bills that were top priorities of the Dems to lure Senate Republicans back from their May walkout. 

Not May of another year. May of this year.

Yes, after Democrats rewarded Senate Republicans last month, it isn't a huge surprise that they're seeing what they can get from Democrats this time around. They're hoping for a lot, such as a referral of the Oregon Clean Jobs bill to voters, which is totally uncalled for.

Further proof of how our Republicans in the legislature are just as sleazy as Congressional Republicans is that the Senate GOP agreed to play nice and not negage in any more walkouts if Democrats agreed to kill the two bills mentioned above, along with considering Republican amendments to the Oregon Clean Jobs bill.

Both of which happened. Democratic legislators heard the arguments for the amendments, then voted them down. This is how democracy works. Voters elect legislators, then those legislators decide on bills.

If you want to be sure that your desired legislation gets passed, first you need a majority in the legislature. Oregon Republicans are skipping the "get elected" part and jumping right into petulant walkout politics.

Oregon Democrats have a nice-looking wanted poster.

The Washington Post has a story with a headline that brings back memories of the Malheur Refuge takeover by armed militants, some of whom reportedly are now staking out the Oregon capitol building just in case -- oh, the horror of it -- the legislature tries to convene and do the people's business.

Here's some excerpts from "Threats from militia provoke shutdown at Oregon capitol, a day after GOP lawmakers fled."

Oregon’s top lawmakers will shut down the state capitol after receiving threats from militia groups, who authorities say are planning to demonstrate there in support of the 11 Republican senators who fled the state to dodge a vote on climate change.

State Senate President Peter Courtney (D) told his colleagues on Friday that Oregon State Police had informed him there was a credible threat to him, the rest of the remaining senators — all of whom are Democrats — and the building’s staff.

...State police confirmed the danger in an emailed statement.

...The militia groups’ alleged threat was the second apparent mention of violence to mar state politics in recent days.

Sen. Brian Boquist, one of the Republicans on the lam, sent a warning to state police Wednesday.

“Send bachelors and come heavily armed,” Boquist said. “I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”

Hopefully the Oregon State Police will be able to find at least two Republican senators and bring them back to Salem so the Senate will have a quorum. However, it isn't a good sign that one senator is hiding in plain sight, according to an Oregonian story.

In the meantime, senator sightings were popping up across social media Saturday.

B.J. Soper, a leader with the Central Oregon Constitutional Guard, posted on Facebook that he’d bumped into Sen. Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, at breakfast.

“I order bacon and eggs, the wife orders huevos rancheros, the kiddo a Mickey Mouse pancake. I look across the room and lo and behold who do I see sipping a cup of joe??? SENATOR DENNIS LITHICUM,” Soper wrote. “I walk over and say ‘What in the hell are you doing here?’

“He says, ‘Good morning!! Having bacon and eggs just like you.’ I’m astonished at his candid attitude and I say ‘Man, (Oregon State Police) is on the lookout and this is a bold move.’

“He tells me, ‘It’s ok, I’m not worried, pretty sure the boys have me covered,’” Soper wrote. “He looks up at the table across from him as 4 dudes raise their cups up to acknowledge. I couldn’t help but smile! I said “OK, carry on and be safe. Let me know if I can help!!”

Walkout of Senate Republicans shows weakness of Oregon Democrats

What a complete non-surprise.

Eleven Republican members of the Oregon Senate have walked out to deny Democrats a quorum needed to pass House Bill 2020, much-needed legislation to reduce carbon pollution in this state. 

Many, if not most, have travelled out of state, which puts them outside the reach of state troopers Governor Kate Brown has ordered to bring them back. 

Back in May I predicted bad things would happen after GOP members of the Oregon Senate pulled the same stunt, minus the going out of state part.

I was so irritated at how the Democrats caved, agreeing to kill two high priority bills in order to entice the Senate Republicans back to work, that I called my post, "Oregon Dems surrender to Republicans like scared little mice." I love to quote myself, so I will.

Disgusting. Horrible. Shameful.

Those are the non-profane words I can use to describe how Governor Brown, Senate President Courtney, and House Speaker Kotek caved in to the walkout of Senate Republicans without putting up any fight at all.

...Actually what happened here is that Democrats gave in to a ransom request by Republicans. Not surprisingly, we can expect that since the GOP ploy worked, they're going to try it again.

Now, I admit that what I was thinking of when I said "they're going to try it again" was that the House Republicans would stage a walkout, since the Senate Republicans promised to play nice for the rest of the legislative session if the pro-vaccination and gun control bills opposed by the GOP were killed.

They just broke that promise. And why not? 

Senate Republicans saw how weak the Governor and Democratic legislative leaders were in May, so they understandably expect that they'll be able to get away with a June walkout also. 

This is what happens when Democrats fail to act like the supermajority in both chambers that voters entrusted them with in the 2018 election. Instead of seizing the reins of power to make life better for all Oregonians, they bent over backward to give the Republican minority what they wanted. 

Sure, the Senate Republicans are acting like jerks. That's what Republicans are good at -- using every political tool at their disposal to get their way to the greatest extent possible.

It's astoundingly irritating to read the crap that is coming out of Senate Republican mouths. Which likely are situated in Washington and Idaho, or maybe even Hawaii, since they could be on vacation from their legislator jobs for most of the rest of the summer.

Voters rejected giving Republicans the majority in both the state House and Senate.

But I've got to give the GOP credit for acting like they're in control, rather than being the minority. Here's some quotes from an Oregonian story, "What happens if Oregon Senate Republicans don't come back?"

Senate Republicans have left the Oregon Capitol with no apparent plans to return. Their absence puts into doubt whether Democrats will finish their business during the 2019 legislative session, which has to conclude by June 30.

The GOP protest stems from Republican’s staunch opposition to House Bill 2020, a massive proposal to regulate carbon emissions. A vote on the measure had been scheduled for Thursday.

...the walkout threatens the future of dozens of other bills and puts funding for several large state agencies in jeopardy.

The list of legislation that would die if Senate Republicans don’t return includes several Democratic priorities, including a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to get legal driver’s licenses, a bill to modify the state’s death penalty, a bill that would refer an increase in the cigarette tax to voters, and a bill that would allow duplexes in single-family zoned neighborhoods in some cities.

...Knopp said the timing of his return would depend upon what bills Brown and Democratic legislative leaders schedule for consideration. On Wednesday, the governor said she was preparing to call a special session on July 2. But there is no guarantee Senate Republicans would show up.

“I feel no constitutional obligation to stand around so they can pass their leftist progressive agenda for Multnomah County that my constituents don’t happen to agree with,” Knopp said. “I think that’s true for every other Senate district that’s out there that’s represented by Republicans.”

What would meet Knopp’s bar to return to Salem?

Budget bills, legislation to address workplace harassment at the Legislature, and a paid family and medical leave insurance plan negotiated with businesses’ and Republicans' input. It passed the House on Thursday with bipartisan support. Knopp said not all Senate Republicans might agree to return to vote on the family and medical leave proposal, although Republican leaders listed its passage among their demands to return from the first walkout in May.

Unbelievable. 

If Democrats had threatened to walk out and prevent a Republican majority in the legislature and Governor's office from passing its top priorities, the GOP would have had state troopers following the Dem legislators around to prevent them from heading out of the state.

But since Oregon Democrats are used to acting like scared little mice, there's a good chance Republicans are, once again, going to get their way after walking out.

The only bright side to all this is that I don't have to search Google Images again. I already have an illustration of Democrat leaders in this state.

I hope the Clean Energy Jobs Bill makes me pay more at the pump

We Oregonians aren't paying enough for the gasoline that fuels our cars and trucks.

Hopefully Oregon's Clean Energy Jobs Bill, also known as cap and trade, will pass in this legislative session and increase the state gasoline tax to a level that comes a heck of a lot closer to reflecting the long-term costs of the carbon pollution that is fueling global warming to increasingly dangerous levels.

A recent story in the Portland Oregonian has some good news on this front:

Almost three quarters of the revenues expected from the bill would come from increases in transportation fuel prices. The Legislative revenue office expects that to translate to about 22 cents a gallon increase at the pump in 2021, when the policy kicks in, increasing to 78 cents a gallon 10 years later and $3 a gallon by 2050.

Excellent! The higher gas prices go, the more incentive there will be for people to buy electric cars/trucks in some form: all electric, plug-in hybrid, or regular hybrid. 

My wife and I bought a 2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid about a week ago. We're enjoying it a lot. It gets about 40 mpg, which is pretty darn good for a decently-sized all wheel drive SUV.

We're avid environmentalists, but have resisted jumping back into the 100% electric car pond after experiencing some range anxiety after buying a 2012  Nissan Leaf (there were other more important reasons we sold the Leaf and got a Chevy Volt, though).

Thus we serve as a good example of why the Oregon legislature needs to overcome the resistance of industry groups, along with the always-irritating theatrics of pseudo-Democrat Sen. Betsy Johnson, who has proposed a bunch of amendments to the bill that would dilute its carbon-reducing impact considerably. 

Government action is essential if the world is to escape the worst effects of rapidly rising temperatures. A big reason why is the Tragedy of the Commons situation that I learned about way-back-when in my Systems Science graduate school days. 

The notion is simple.

Everybody in a town wants to graze their sheep on commonly owned land. It makes sense for each sheep owner to do this, since the grass is there for the asking. Or rather, grazing. But when everybody does what makes sense for them, the commons is over-grazed, the grass dies, and everybody suffers.

Likewise, every car and truck owner wants to do what makes sense for them. Sometimes this is good for everybody -- buying an electric car and charging it with solar panels, for example -- but usually it isn't. 

Which is why the Clean Energy Jobs Bill is crucial for Oregon.

Carbon pollution can't be solved by individual actions. Greenhouse gas emissions are rising too rapidly. Market forces work fine for pricing bananas, but not for pricing greenhouse gas emissions.

Only government can do that. So let's do it, Oregon legislature. The arguments against the bill in the Oregonian stories are very weak.

Oregon has little impact on global emissions. So what? Every country in the world could say something similar, as could every state in the United States, every city in each state, and so on. A global problem requires global action at every level. 

Oregon would be only the second state to institute an economy-wide limit on greenhouse emissions, behind California. Again, so what? Oregon used to take pride in being an environmental leader. Bottle bill. Public beaches. Land use planning. We led the way in these areas. So let's lead the way in limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

Hopefully the Democrats who control both houses of the state legislature and the Governor's Office will realize that this is the moment to take a stand for the habitability for humans of our one and only Earth.

If they fail to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Bill in the nest two weeks, the opportunity may never come again.