For many years Southern Oregonians have been seeking meaningful state and federal action to address the climate crisis. While many of us have dedicated ourselves personally to doing all we can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from our individual behavior, we have recognized the profound need for state and national action to drive the process forward. Thanks to state agencies responding to Governor Brown’s Executive Order 20-04, the state is doing its part. We are delighted to see that now the Federal Government is set to make a giant stride as well.We need to keep this momentum going with a Governor and state and federal legislators who support climate action in deed as well as word.
It’s now time to congratulate our state Senators Merkley and Wyden for their ongoing efforts to promote federal climate action, particularly in supporting the just-passed Inflation Reduction Act. While the Act doesn’t go as far as we would like to address this existential crisis, it certainly takes a massive step in the appropriate direction. Assessments of the proposal indicate that it will, if/when enacted, reduce our national greenhouse gas emissions tens of times more than it would increase them. It would place the nation on a solid greenhouse gas emissions reduction trajectory. It will create some 9 million good-paying jobs over the next decade and reduce the deficit. In short, the Inflation Reduction Act is a win-win proposal for climate and the economy.
The proposal may allow more fossil fuel extraction than we would like; it may not allocate as much funding to social justice as we would like. But let’s recall the Tip O’Neill quote on compromise: “I will take half a loaf today but, I will come back for the other half tomorrow.” We now call on Congressional District 2 Representative Cliff Bentz to support the bill as it moves to the House for a vote later this week. We congratulate Representative Bentz for joining the Conservative Climate Caucus underlining the principle that climate action is not a partisan issue. We also encourage Representative Bentz not only to rethink his opposition to the IRA and to support it, but also to persuade other members of the Caucus to jump. There are too many false solutions circulating that would do little or nothing to address the problem. In the Inflation Reduction Act we finally have an opportunity to do something meaningful at the federal level. Let us all support it and push our nation forward solving this, the crisis of our lives.
source: SOCAN press release
