Governor Brown praised Lane County’s excellence in “brews, brains and lumber” in her address to the City Club Friday afternoon. She presented goals for this year’s 35-day legislative session, which begins February 3rd.
The Governor’s two priorities for the session are addressing climate change and the threat of wildfires. To build buy-in from Republicans, who left Oregon last year to protest the cap and trade legislation, she toured the state. Brown says, “We took their concerns and made modifications in the bill. Two arenas, number one transportation, secondly manufacturing.”
Brown says most carbon emissions are from urban areas, so gas taxes would start in Portland in 2022, and other cities in 2025. She says most rural places would not see gas price increases. Similarly, sawmills and food processors would be held harmless. “We can do both of these things," says Brown, "and meet the same emissions reduction goals that we did under the prior measure.”
Brown says she’s cautiously optimistic the climate change bill could pass.
