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<\/p>\nOregon\u2019s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction program is facing legal challenges again, a year after it restarted following a previous court decision. <\/p>\n
This time, more than two dozen groups, including gas utilities, labor unions and trade associations, are once again challenging the state\u2019s authority to implement the Climate Protection Program, which was created through an executive order rather than legislation.<\/p>\n
The groups also claim the program will \u201cinflict substantial and irreparable harm\u201d to businesses that could face millions of dollars in costs and Oregonians, who see some of those costs reflected on their utility bills.<\/p>\n
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A blue flame burns on a natural gas stove.<\/p>\n
Cassandra Profita \/ OPB<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can work collectively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but we cannot do so through a program that is economically infeasible and simply piles costs onto Oregon\u2019s families, businesses and even governments,\u201d Oregon Business & Industry President and CEO Angela Wilhelms said in a statement. \u201cWe can support ideas that are affordable, accountable and legally sound, but the Climate Protection Program fails on all three counts. That\u2019s why this coalition saw a need to take legal action.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, nearly 30 petitioners led by the Oregon Business & Industry filed an Oregon Court of Appeals petition against the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, which oversees the Climate Protection Program. The program<\/a> imposes gradual limits on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and natural gas companies, like NW Natural, Avista Corporation and Cascade Natural Gas, with a target of 90% reduction by 2050. The program also allows fossil fuel suppliers to reduce emissions through the program\u2019s Community Climate Investment<\/a> credit program; if regulated entities do not reduce their emissions, they must buy credits at the cost of $136 per ton of carbon emissions. <\/p>\n The state\u2019s effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions means tackling some of the hardest industries to regulate \u2014 fossil fuel industries. <\/p>\n Fossil fuels, like oil and gas, have been an essential part of people\u2019s lives, heating homes and fueling vehicles. But as the climate crisis worsens and science indicates the burning of fossil fuels continues to make human-caused climate change worse, companies and industries that rely on these commodities are facing bleak trade-offs in states pushing them to reduce carbon emissions and move toward renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n This presents a critical challenge for industries whose business model relies on the distribution and delivery of fossil fuels. <\/p>\n NW Natural has long criticized the Climate Protection Program for imposing limits or fees on its use of natural gas while not imposing similar limits and costs on electric companies that use gas to generate power, officials with the company have told OPB in the past. Electric utilities are required to end use of greenhouse gas emitting fuels by 2040 under a separate program passed by the state Legislature, but they do not have to purchase emissions credits for the fossil fuels they use before then.<\/p>\n In the lawsuit they planned to file Thursday, petitioners argue the program\u2019s compliance costs are the highest in the nation and don\u2019t allow for affected companies to link with other neighboring cap-and-trade programs like Washington, California and Qu\u00e9bec. Earlier this year, those three jurisdictions have agreed to link their programs<\/a>, creating a massive cap-and-trade program, and they are currently drafting an agreement. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a \u2018cap\u2019 without a legitimate \u2018trade\u2019 component and has no legislative oversight, making it an outlier versus every other program out there,\u201d Alliance of Western Energy Consumers CEO Bill Gaines said in a statement. His group is a plaintiff in the lawsuit and represents businesses from Oregon, Washington and Idaho in rate proceedings and regulatory proceedings that directly affect energy costs. <\/p>\n \u201cThe (Climate Protection Program) is a real problem because it doesn\u2019t link to market-based carbon programs in neighboring states, and the costs are dramatically higher. This is an issue that can only practically be addressed by the Oregon Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n But the idea of a cap-and-trade program has been a controversial issue in the state Legislature for many years. Republican lawmakers shut down the Oregon Legislature two years in a row to stop majority Democrats from passing a cap-and-trade bill.<\/p>\n On its website, NW Natural said it chose to join the lawsuit<\/a> \u201con behalf of our customers, who will bear unsustainable cost increases due to this program.\u201d <\/p>\n The company said the program \u201cmandates aggressive, rapid and technically unachievable emissions reductions for fossil fuel users, and burdens Oregonians with the most expensive carbon compliance fee in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result, the company said, \u201cthe Climate Protection Program is driving up energy costs at a time when Oregon is already facing significant job losses, a housing affordability crisis, and among the highest tax burdens on consumers and businesses in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n But Green Energy Institute at Lewis and Clark Law School director and staff attorney Carra Sahler disputes that, arguing that the war has actually benefited oil and gas companies. <\/p>\n \u201cIt rings hollow that fossil fuel interests are concerned about rising costs,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Environmental groups have argued the Climate Protection Program is needed to help the state reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Oregon is already two years behind its own schedule<\/a>. If this program goes away, the state may not reach any of its goals.<\/p>\n Jana Gastellum, executive director of Oregon Environmental Council, criticized the claims made by Oregon Business & Industry, which is leading the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cOBI doesn\u2019t represent the voices and priorities of the people of Oregon when it comes to the Climate Protection Program,\u201d Gastellum said. \u201cOver 10,000 Oregonians have voiced their support of this program throughout its lifespan, from all corners of the state. By seeking to repeal the program, OBI is acting in blatant disregard to Oregonians\u2019 broad desire for greater climate action and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate Protection Program\u2019s legal challenges<\/p>\n The first iteration of the Climate Protection Program was created under former Gov. Kate Brown\u2019s Executive Order 20-04<\/a> as an attempt to regulate emissions after legislators failed to pass their own climate policies. Brown\u2019s order directs certain state agencies to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change.<\/p>\n When it launched in 2022, it was deemed one of the strongest climate action programs in the nation.<\/p>\n But the fossil fuel groups who would be regulated under the program filed a lawsuit in early 2022 looking to block its implementation entirely.<\/p>\n