Speak up to restore Oregon’s Climate Protection Program

1,018

Supporters spoke up in this action

Delivery to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Action ended on September 30, 2024

What Happens Next

Thank you to all who took action! We’re grateful for your support.

What Was At Stake

Climate change is creating severe consequences for communities across Oregon. Climate-fueled weather events and natural disasters linked to climate change are already causing immeasurable harm to Oregonians, with the greatest health and safety risks and costs borne disproportionately by our most vulnerable communities. There’s a program that would help, and we need your voice to protect Oregon’s healthy climate future.

In response to these increased risks, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) adopted the Climate Protection Program (CPP) in 2021. The CPP capped and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from Oregon’s gas utilities, other fuel suppliers, and large industrial sources. It also funded clean energy projects in Oregon, prioritizing projects that reduce emissions in communities overburdened by fossil fuel and industrial pollution. An Oregon Department of Energy assessment showed the CPP was one of two key programs that would help Oregon meet its climate goals.

Unfortunately, the CPP’s cornerstone climate and community protections were derailed after the oil and gas industry sued to overturn the program — and a court invalidated the program last year based on a technicality.

DEQ is now seeking to re-establish this signature climate program — and it’s now up to Oregon citizens to speak up to protect this vital program.

You can help by submitting a written public comment asking the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to reinstate a strong CPP without delay.

The CPP is essential for reaching Oregon’s climate goals. The program will cut fossil fuel emissions by 90% by 2050 and invest upwards of $150 million annually in clean energy projects for frontline Oregon communities most impacted by climate change.

Let’s make sure the CPP stays on track to achieve science-based emissions reductions, hold industrial polluters accountable for these reductions, and deliver needed investments in clean energy projects in communities burdened by fossil fuel and industrial pollution across Oregon. Urge the Oregon DEQ to uphold and restore a strong CPP without delay.

A Union Pacific oil train carrying crude oil to the Port of Tacoma, Washington derailed in the town of Mosier, Oregon on June 3, 2016. ..A black plume of smoke can be seen miles away, and a limited amount of oil did spill into the Columbia River despite efforts to contain it. The residents of the town were ordered to evacuate for their safety as crews cleaned up the derailment. (Ray Wan for Earthjustice)
A Union Pacific oil train carrying crude oil to the Port of Tacoma, Washington derailed in the town of Mosier, Oregon on June 3, 2016. ..A black plume of smoke can be seen miles away, and a limited amount of oil did spill into the Columbia River despite efforts to contain it. The residents of the town were ordered to evacuate for their safety as crews cleaned up the derailment. (Ray Wan for Earthjustice)

Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

Our legislators serve at the pleasure of the people who gave them their job — you.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

Your action is with us in court.

If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.