Gov. Kate Brown Prepared Plans To Deal W. Forests, Warming; OR GOP Threw Tantrums, Walked Out

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Link to tweet

Although Brown was pressed specifically about former Oregon lawmakers writing op-eds in The Washington Post that dismiss climate change and instead blame the wildfires raving the state on the failure of its government to prepare, Brown told CBS about how she stood up a fire council about two and a half years ago after Republicans wouldn’t take action following the council’s report.

“Folks came together, Republicans, Democrats, to tackle the issues. The council had an extensive report and called for extensive investments in our communities, harvesting and thinning,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, the Republicans walked away from the legislative session and we were unable to get that done.”

Brown then argued that the wildfires can’t simply be blamed on forest mismanagement.

“It’s both,” Brown said. “It’s decades of mismanagement of our forests in this country, and it is the failure to tackle climate change. We need to do both. And we can.”

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/democrats-trump-west-coast-wildfires-forest-management

Oregon Senate Republicans’ walkout entered its fourth day Sunday. The minority party lawmakers are denying Democrats a quorum in an effort to kill or compel changes to a climate bill.

Democratic Gov. Kate Brown has ordered the Oregon State Police to find the missing lawmakers and bring them back to Salem.

Today’s session

While Senate President Peter Courtney canceled plans to meet on Saturday due to “militia threats,” the Senate remains scheduled to gather at the Capitol at 10 a.m. today.

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https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/06/oregon-republican-senators-walkout-what-you-need-to-know-today.html

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Republicans had learned their lesson. It took only until February 2020 for the first walkout of the new session, when Republicans, en masse, skipped an evening meeting. What was the problem this time? What issue was so dire as to justify an extraordinary breach of longstanding norms?

Oh, it’s just that Democrats were working everyone too hard, moving a little too fast. “Tonight is really about pacing,” said House Minority Leader Christine Drazan. “The schedule is a little bit grueling.” It seems some of the Republicans had plans that were disrupted by the late-announced meeting. Drazan promised to continue using walkouts to adjust the pace of the schedule. “We’ll have this conversation again tomorrow,” she said. “What does the floor look like on that day?”

Walkouts Nos. 4 and 5

In January 2020, Oregon Democrats unveiled a new version of their cap-and-trade bill, which reflected intense discussions with minority lawmakers and industry trade groups. It was a heavily compromised version of the already compromised bill that had been ready to pass in 2019. The new plan would be implemented over three phases, with rural areas affected last. Rural fuels were exempted, along with several industries and new classes of natural gas users. It was a substantial capitulation.

This month, Republican senators walked out again, using rhetoric unchanged from before all the concessions. This time, Courtney immediately ruled out sending state troopers after them. Instead, he redoubled his begging. “I need you. I need you to help my fellow Oregonians — all of us. I need you,” he said plaintively in a radio interview. “Let’s fight other ways. Please come back to Oregon my Oregon.”

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https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/2/29/21157246/oregon-republicans-walk-out-climate-change-cap-trade-democracy