$5 million granted to Oregon DEQ to curb greenhouse gas emissions

SALEM, Ore.– Emergency funds to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon are set to be signed by Governor Kate Brown in an executive order on Tuesday.

Five million dollars were allocated during an emergency hearing on Monday with Oregon’s Joint Legislative Emergency Board. The decision was made coming off the end of a failed short session and another Republican walkout – opposing climate change legislation – where only three bills of more than 100 were passed.

According to the Associated Press, this was the first time since the walkout both sides voted together. However, votes were still divided along party lines.

State Representative Pam Marsh, a Democrat, says the funds will go to the Department of Environmental Quality to develop rulemaking and other actions in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state. What exactly those actions will be for the DEQ won’t be made clear till Tuesday’s signing by the governor. But Marsh says due to the failed session, Governor Brown is following through with her commitment.

“The governor has been clear that she would take action if we were unable to negotiate something in the legislature,” said Marsh. “We worked hard at doing that and clearly that effort fell apart.”

On the other side, Republicans feel the emergency funding doesn’t address the whole issue. Republican State Representative Kim Wallan said she’s waiting to hear more on what the DEQ will be required to do with the funding, but expects it won’t be covering some of the bigger questions she sees like wildfires and their effects on greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s not like we’re one of the highest polluting areas in the country or the world,” said Wallan. “So I disagree with her doing it because I think we need to take a bigger look at it.”

The $5 million was just a portion of $25 million in emergency funding granted. The board allocated $11.65 million in funding to bolster the response to last month’s flooding in northwest Oregon.  Another $2.7 million was granted to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management in preparation for future emergencies including wildfires and disease. Finally, $5 million more was given to the Oregon Health Authority to combat the novel coronavirus.

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