Oregon lawmakers refuse to fund Gov. Kate Brown's clean air initiative
Oregon lawmakers will not fund Cleaner Air Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown's signature initiative to cut toxic air pollution statewide, forcing the state's environmental regulator to find another way to pay for an overhaul proposed after the 2016 Portland air crisis.
It is a significant defeat for the governor. The Democrat was unable to overcome industry opposition to convince a statehouse controlled by her party to raise $1 million to fund the program. House Bill 2269 would've levied a one-time fee on the state's 2,525 permitted air polluters.
And it's a win for Oregon's industrial lobbyists, who also killed a separate clean air initiative this session that would've cracked down on cancer-causing soot spewed from high-polluting diesel engines.
The latest decision shows how much power the state's manufacturers wield in Salem. It comes six years after industry lobbyists successfully undercut efforts to clean up toxic air pollution in Portland.
Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2017/06/oregon_lawmakers_refuse_to_fun.html