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Ore. lawmakers say cap-and-trade is on 2019 agenda

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Ore. lawmakers say cap-and-trade is on 2019 agenda

Oregon lawmakers are looking to 2019 to again take up a plan to create a cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions after the Legislature adjourned without taking action on the proposal.

After state lawmakers wrapped up a short session March 3 a few days earlier than expected, Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives and Senate said finding a way for Oregon to reduce carbon emissions will be a priority in 2019.

Senate President Peter Courtney said a committee that he and House Speaker Tina Kotek created will study ways Oregon can control and reduce its carbon emissions. Courtney said he expects the Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction to come up with an "actionable" proposal lawmakers can look to in 2019.

Senate Bill 1507 and House Bill 4001 called for an emissions cap starting in 2021 that declines each year until 2050. The bills applied to emitters of more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year and required them to buy emissions allowances. Neither bill made it out of the committee process.

Oregon electric utilities PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric Co. early on had suggested changes to the bills, including making sure adequate customer protections were in place.

Democratic lawmakers in the House had offered an amendment to set a cap on emissions during the short session and give lawmakers more time to enact a trading program to go along with it.

The so-called "-12 amendment" to H.B. 4001 would have retained a proposed cap on emissions while giving lawmakers a crack at enacting a cap-and-trade program. If they failed to do so, the amendment allowed Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission to adopt a program.

Critics of the idea, however, were not won over by the amendment. Some business and manufacturing groups said the bill posed a threat to jobs and Oregon's economy.

Those who backed the measure said it would help curb greenhouse gas emissions while helping spur the transition to a cleaner energy fleet.