As you may know by now, the longest GOP walkout in state history has finally come to an end this week. It has been an egregious situation where non-democratic tactics were used by a minority of Republican Senators to deny the collective will of all Oregonians and shutdown the government for weeks. We at Climate Solutions are deeply concerned about the ongoing challenges to our state’s democratic process that this represents, and yet, we must still move forward and try to make progress. We all know that the climate crisis demands much more bold action at every level. So we're thrilled to announce that Climate Solutions is joining forces with environmental justice, business, labor, environmental, and community-based organizations supporting more than a dozen game-changing bills to form the most comprehensive climate action package in Oregon history.
Where are the remaining bills now?
The new, bipartisan Climate Resilience Package (HB 3409 and HB 3630) is a combination of many pieces of legislation to reduce climate and air pollution, support healthy, affordable, resilient communities, and create family-wage jobs across Oregon. The policies in this package were strategically crafted to leverage unprecedented federal investments.
from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, and will be vital to harnessing and translating this funding into near-term benefits for Oregon families, workers, and local economies. Collectively, the package will invest $100 million to bring home 10 times that – up to $1 billion in federal funding to Oregonians.
A centerpiece of the new package? Our Resilient, Efficient Buildings bills, which will ensure that our homes and buildings protect Oregonians from extreme weather, cut climate pollution, and reduce energy costs. As always, fossil fuel corporations and other big polluters are ramping up opposition to try to stop this package. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on these priority bills early next week, and the Senate soon after, and we can’t afford to miss out on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the climate crisis. Can we count on you to take climate action today and email your lawmakers?
Tell your legislators to support these bills (click here)
Nickname, we’re so grateful for everything you have done to hold strong and advance meaningful climate action. The Climate Resilience Package offers real hope — that’s why it already has the support of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. But we need your continued support as we push to make sure this package is a top priority for legislative leaders in their final days of work.
We can’t afford to take a year off climate action. Lawmakers must act urgently to tackle Oregon’s second-largest source of climate pollution — our homes and buildings — and take advantage of historic federal funding. If they don’t, Oregon won’t just leave billions of federal dollars on the table, we will leave Oregonians — especially frontline communities — vulnerable to the worsening effect of the climate crisis. We can’t let that happen.
[Friend,] we have an opportunity to take meaningful climate action this year if we keep the pressure up. We must make sure legislators stay strong by standing up to the fossil fuel lobby. There’s just too much on the line to back down now.
Thank you for being with us every step of the way.
