Latest news with #Sollman
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon senators kill proposal to make fossil fuels industry pay for climate-change driven disasters
Oregon is likely to experience more intense periods of drought, heavy rain and other major weather events and natural disasters as a result of climate change and more than a century of burning fossil fuels. A bill that would have required fossil fuels companies to pay into a fund to help respond to such disasters and to help Oregonians adapt to climate change was killed in the state Legislature. (Photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation) A bill that would have required fossil fuel companies doing business in Oregon to pay for the downstream and multigenerational costs of their climate pollution will not move forward. The Senate Committee on Energy and Environment Wednesday decided not to take a vote and advance Senate Bill 1187, the Make Polluters Pay Act, effectively letting the bill die in the committee. Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, chair of the committee, told her colleagues there was not enough time to dedicate to any fixes the bill might need. The bill had its first public hearing Monday. 'Good legislation requires adequate time and attention from our staff, from agencies and advocates, to ensure that it achieves its intended goals,' Sollman said. 'I will continue to work in an open and inclusive way with anyone who wants to help protect Oregon's climate. And I look forward to having those urgent conversations.' The bill, sponsored by Sen. Khanh Pham, D-Portland, who is also a member of the committee, would have created a 'climate superfund' seeded with millions of dollars in damages from the handful of companies most responsible for emitting planet-warming greenhouse gasses causing catastrophic climate change. These include companies like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and about 50 other oil, gas, coal and cement producers that are directly linked to 80% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions during the past decade alone. Since 2020, wildfires, drought, heat waves and winter storms exacerbated by a warming planet have directly and indirectly killed hundreds of Oregonians and cost the state more than $5 billion, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Pham told her fellow committee members she was 'deeply disappointed' they would not take a vote and that she would continue advocating for the bill in the future. 'We've known climate change would lead to these catastrophic disasters since at least 1981,' she said. 'We have had 45 years to take action. And frankly, I think further delay in finding a way to help fund Oregonians' recovery and resilience building, and holding the fossil fuel industry accountable, is an insult to the people who have died, and the Oregonians who are paying to rebuild their lives and their communities out of their own pocket.' Thirty percent of the climate superfund dollars would have been set aside for the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office to be used specifically for wildfire prevention and response across the state, and 40% of funds would have been directed to disadvantaged communities bearing disproportionate climate impacts from greenhouse gas pollution. It was modeled on similar legislation passed in Vermont and New York in 2024. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia are considering similar proposals in their own legislatures. At the bill's first hearing Monday, lawmakers heard from dozens of young Oregonians, as well as seniors from the volunteer advocacy group Third Act, who threw their support behind the bill. So many people showed up to testify that a second hearing room had to be opened up for the overflow. Just two people opposed the bill in person at the Monday hearing: Sharla Moffett, a lobbyist for Oregon Business and Industry, and Rocky Dallum, a lobbyist for the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association, an industry group representing pulp and paper mills across Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Moffett said the bill was 'sweeping' and 'impractical' and that she and others were not given enough time to weigh in on it. Dallum said the state's Climate Protection Program, which puts a declining cap on emissions from polluters over the next 25 years already offers an avenue for polluters to pay into climate adaptation and response, via the Community Climate Investments part of the program. Those investments are essentially carbon credits companies can buy to offset some of their greenhouse gas pollution, and the money is funneled to projects that reduce emissions. Study after study has shown that putting a price tag on each metric ton of carbon dioxide a company emits, such as a fine or tax, works at reducing emissions. Modeling from the MIT En-ROADS climate-solution simulator shows it is the single most effective policy decision any government could make to accelerate decarbonization and curb the worst effects of climate change by the end of the century. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill limiting single-use plastics for Oregon restaurants, hotels passes Senate
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Oregon lawmakers are trying to crack down on the prevalence of single-use plastics offered at businesses statewide. , which would ban restaurants and retailers from giving patrons single-use checkout bags, was approved with a 22-8 vote among Oregon senators on Tuesday. The measure would also prohibit business owners and hotel staff from providing utensils, condiment packages, or toiletry containers made of plastic unless requested by customers. Cannon Beach's long-standing poop problem cited in complaint from environmental nonprofit During SB 551's , Sen. Janeen Sollman — the bill's chief sponsor — told legislators the policy would help local businesses save money in addition to reducing plastics. 'One colleague proclaimed to me, 'I love plastic,'' Sen. Sollman said. 'I want to be clear: this is not a ban on all plastic, but a mere drop in the plastic deluge of products we encounter every day… Plastic bags and small plastic containers cannot be collected curbside so it takes more of an effort for Oregonians to mitigate the waste and the bulk and ends up in our landfills.' The chief sponsor added that major retailers like Fred Meyer and have already stopped providing plastic bags. She also noted that a 'prevalence of microfibers' has been found in local waterways. Earlier this year, a revealed that small particles of plastic products were making their way into Oregon seafood. Out of the 182 fish and shrimp samples that were assessed, researchers detected 1,806 particles that were believed to be microplastics in all but two of the samples. This is another advancement in officials' efforts to reduce use of plastics and other materials that could harm the environment. Oregon's went into effect in 2020. A started this year. Oregon gun control law is constitutional, according to state appeals court But while a majority of legislators approved SB 551 as well, dissenters like Sen. Noah Robinson argued that its enactment would inconvenience customers who use plastic bags and it would rid retailers of their freedom to use the packaging of their choice. The Oregon House's first reading of the bill is scheduled for Thursday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon Senate votes to raise minimum age for marriage to 18 years old
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Oregon Senate has voted to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 years old. Oregon's current law states that a 17-year-old can marry so long as they have one parent or guardian's permission. If passed, Senate Bill 548 would have Oregon join the list of 13 other states with a minimum age of 18. Oregon gun control law is constitutional, according to state appeals court 'Whatever outdated values underpinned the current law, Oregonians today understand how potentially abusive and dangerous it is for children, especially girls, to be legally married as minors,' said Sen. Janeen Sollman (D-Forest Grove). According to the Senate Majority Office, the state's current policy has 'allowed more than 2,900 adult men to get Oregon marriage licenses with teenage girls between 2000 and 2021.' Sollman, a co-sponsor for the bill, said, 'Our hearts break to contemplate the situations those children endured.' The Senate Majority Office also shared that marriage to a 17-year-old can shield pedophiles from charges — as it is illegal for an adult to have a sexual relationship with a minor at least three years younger than them, but not if the two are married. Washington sues county for illegally helping federal immigration enforcement, suit claims Those under the age of 18 often struggle to find legal counsel or file protective orders. And in cases of abuse, the minor cannot be shielded by child protective services. 'This has nothing to do with maturity. No one wakes up on their 18th birthday with newfound wisdom or ability to make decisions,' said Becca Powell with the human rights charity Unchained At Last. 'But what they do wake up with is all the rights of adulthood they didn't have the day before.' The bill is now headed to the Oregon House of Representatives. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon Senate votes in favor of more restrictions on plastic: What to know
New restrictions on single-use plastic could be coming to retail stores, restaurants and hotels after the Oregon Senate voted Tuesday in favor of Senate Bill 551, sending the legislation to the House for consideration. If signed into law, restaurants could provide plastic utensils and condiments in plastic packaging only on request. The same would apply to single-use shampoos and other personal products at hotels. Legislators banned single-use plastic bags at stores and restaurants in 2019 but allowed for thicker plastic bags. SB551 would ban those, too. Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Wilsonville, and Rep. Tom Andersen, D-Salem, are chief sponsors of the bill. "Freeing Oregon from those thick plastic bags is a win for the environment and for business," Sollman said. Sollman said the bill would save businesses money on bags and products, such as plastic utensils, which may be given out but not used by the customer. Only about 9% of plastic nationally is recycled, Celeste Meiffren-Swango, director for Environment Oregon, told the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment in January. Sollman is the committee's chair. "We have serious problems with plastics that run onto our beaches," said vice-chair of the committee, Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford. He and Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, said the bill would help the timber industry by increasing demand for paper bags. Sen. Noah Robinson, R-Cave Junction, spoke against the bill, saying, "I love plastic." He said the ban is a "freedom issue" and would inconvenience consumers. Robinson was one of eight no votes on the bill, all Republican. Single-use condiments and cutlery would be available only upon request beginning July 1, 2026. Thicker plastic bags would be banned at stores and restaurants as of Jan. 1, 2027. The ban's start date was pushed back after grocers expressed concerns about impacts on paper bag supply due to a similar bill set to go into effect in California in 2026. Hotels with 50 or more rooms could provide single-use toiletries only on request after Jan. 1, 2027. The requirement would apply to lodging with one or more rooms beginning Jan. 1, 2028. Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@ or 971-208-5615. This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Plastic bag ban moves to Oregon House of Representatives
