Posted on 07/28/2005 2:07:03 PM PDT by crazyhorse691
In the long-awaited death rattle of an utterly meaningless session, the power brokers in the Oregon Legislature tentatively agreed this week to prohibit the state from spending any money to adopt tougher auto emission standards.
Whoa. I think I hear the Capitol gang hitting rock bottom. California, after all, leads the way in limiting these "tailpipe emissions." Washington state will implement similar standards if Oregon does the same.
Instead, we have a revoltin' development that perfectly illustrates how the battle lines are drawn in Salem:
The House Republicans fight for all the wrong things. The Senate Democrats fight for nothing. And the governor, more often than not, watches helplessly from the bleachers as the Legislature grows increasingly comfortable with its collective incompetence and its inability to pass anything of significance except a budget.
While the Legislature's ineptitude is familiar, this display of willful negligence is remarkable. Vehicles produce one-third of the greenhouse emissions in Oregon, according to the Governor's Advisory Group on Global Warming, and those emissions pose an increasingly severe threat to the environment and the economy.
After several months of extensive interviews with the scientists who have long focused on the global nature of that threat, The New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert said, "I spoke to many very sober-minded, coolly analytical scientists who, in essence, warned of the end of the world as we know it."
Even our sober, analytical president conceded at the G-8 summit, "Listen, I recognize that the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem."
How bizarre, then, that House Republicans -- addicted to oil and campaign contributions from the auto industry -- decided that a prohibition on cleaner cars and cleaner air was a vital issue in the final budget package.
"I seldom get annoyed anymore at the outrageous things Republicans propose," said state Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton. "But the Democrats' acceptance of this is unconscionable.
"This was a sledgehammer over the head. The Democratic leadership always stated this was off the table." The leadership -- Peter Courtney, Kate Brown, Kurt Schrader and Margaret Carter -- apparently decided, Ringo said, to trade tailpipe emissions for several other lukewarm environmental measures.
"They should have talked to the environmentalists or to their caucus members who had more information instead of making a deal without understanding the consequences. I think the deal is outrageous."
Not to mention cynical and shortsighted. More progressive analysts across the land understand that denial about global warming and dependence on oil threaten this country's economy and its national security.
"We're funding both sides of the war on terrorism," Ringo said. "If we're going to invade Iraq and have such a presence in the Middle East, at the very least let's have more fuel-efficient vehicles."
As the leading environmental advocate in the Senate, Ringo grades this session a D- because his party held the reins in the Senate and the governor's office and did little but pull back.
While the aptly named Senate Ds continue to play dead, Kulongoski has the power, through his veto authority, to thwart this odious development. The governor pledged earlier this year to move forward on reducing tailpipe emissions, with or without the Legislature's help, and his spokeswoman, Holly Armstrong, said Wednesday he has no intention of reversing course.
"The language in that bill will not become law on his watch," Armstrong said.
Whoa. I think I hear passion. I think I hear a commitment to protect Oregon's environment. I believe I hear, at long last, a willingness to bear arms in Salem and fight for something that matters.
Steve Duin: 503-221-8597; Steveduin@aol.com; 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Republicans PROHIBITED cleaner cars and cleaner air?????
bttt
LOL...any state that has a "Governor's Advisory Group on Global Warming" deserves to be pointed at and ridiculed by the sane people of the country.
That gave me a good laugh.
The commies in our capitol couldn't wait, and went ahead without you. Washington implemented California emissions standards this year.
I hate to say it, but if you support overpopulating this nation, increased pollution, and increased costs in countering it will be the result. I appreciate the efforts of environmentalists because without emissions regs, methinks we'd be in deep doo-doo in Caleeeforneea.
You mean like how my 30MPG Honda failed smog (while a beat up '80-something Toyota ahead of me passed by one single ppm N.O.!!!) so I'm now looking at spending a couple hundred dollars in "inspect, repair and re-test" as opposed to paying down some of my debt or putting back into my business? I think the emissions racket stuck it to me, but that's just my opinion.
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