The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) just announced that it would not appeal a recent decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals invalidating the Climate Protection Program (CPP), Oregon's sweeping administrative...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) yesterday released two Draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the Oregon Coast and set a 60-day public comment period that will include multiple public meetings and an Oregon...more
With Oregon's recent implementation of rules to cap greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the entire West Coast is now subject to some form of GHG emissions cap program. We have previously discussed California's and Washington's...more
The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC)—like other agencies tasked with addressing energy and climate policies in the state—was busy before the 2021 legislative session. New laws passed this year assure that pace will...more
After a horrible wildfire season in 2020, this year's wildfire season is off to an even earlier start in Oregon and across the West. The fires have been making national news seemingly every day, with record-breaking "heat...more
For the past two legislative sessions, the Oregon legislature tried—and failed—to pass comprehensive climate legislation. Those efforts, which were focused on a cap-and-trade, economy-wide approach, were met with such harsh...more
In an historic move, the Washington State Legislature passed two major pieces of climate change legislation in the closing days of its recent session over the weekend of April 24-25, 2021. ...more
The Biden Administration's announcement last week of a multi-agency initiative to spur development of offshore wind development is gaining quite a bit of attention, and for good reason....more
The Oregon legislature is once again considering potentially far-reaching climate change legislation. But unlike prior years, Oregon agencies are not waiting to see what happens this session....more
Last week, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) held the first of multiple stakeholder workshops to kick-off a new rulemaking intended to establish the rules for wildfire mitigation planning efforts by regulated...more
Once again, the West Coast has experienced a catastrophic wildfire season. Lives lost, thousands displaced, communities destroyed, millions of acres burned, and hazardous air blanketing the region: this has been the reality...more
In 2018, voters in Portland passed a far-reaching new initiative, the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF). Described as the country's first ever climate fund created and led by communities of color, the fund...more
n an earlier post, we commented on the initial plans of various Oregon state agencies to implement Governor Brown's Executive Order No. 20-04 (EO 20-04) to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Much has happened...more
In her March 10, 2020 Executive Order 20-04, Governor Kate Brown directed 10 state agencies to report by May 15, 2020 on “proposed actions within their statutory authority to reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions and mitigate...more
Two days after we covered the Oregon legislature's failure to enact a controversial climate bill, Governor Kate Brown took matters into her own hands and ordered sweeping new agency actions to address climate change. ...more
Despite having a Democratic supermajority, the Oregon legislature once again failed to pass a controversial climate bill after similar efforts ended last year in dramatic fashion. ...more
One of the most controversial pieces of legislation of the Oregon 2020 short legislative session continues to divide lawmakers in Salem....more
The 80th Oregon Legislative Assembly convenes today, Monday, February 3rd, for its so-called "short session," and legislators will have 35 days to look at more than 250 pieces of legislation that have already been introduced....more
The Oregon legislature’s Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction has introduced HB 2020, a highly anticipated bill that would establish a cap-and-trade system to significantly reduce greenhouse gases attributable to sources...more
The development of Oregon’s anti-SLAPP law in 2017 resembles the progress of salmon headed upstream in Oregon rivers: slow, but definitely steady. It appears from an informal survey that more anti-SLAPP special motions to...more
At an April 21 workshop, the Oregon Public Utility Commission presented its timeline for implementing a variety of programs in the wake of the state’s recently passed and far-ranging energy bill, SB 1547 (the “Oregon Clean...more
The Oregon Legislature on Wednesday passed a sweeping and contentious bill that signals significant changes for the state’s energy industry. Senate Bill 1547, the final home for the “Oregon Clean Electricity and Coal...more
Although Oregon is in its 15th year of anti-SLAPP litigation under a decidedly robust statute, no Oregon appellate court had ruled on how to decide when Oregon’s anti-SLAPP statute applies until the recent decision in Mullen...more