Oregon Clean Air Ballot Initiative Kicks-off Campaign in Portland

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

GoLocalPDX News Team

The chief petitioner Nik Blosser was the first to sign an initiative petition sheet pushing to transition Oregon off of coal-fired electricity and double the goal for renewable energy. His co-chief petitioner Margaret Ngai, a registered nurse and mother of two small children, also signed.

Blosser is the founder of Celilo Group Media, the publisher of Chinook Books. His wife is Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury.

“Oregon is ready to take this next step to maintain our leadership in the clean energy economy,” said Blosser. “Transitioning away from coal and replacing it with renewable electricity will benefit our health, our environment and our economy.”

The campaign will collect signatures from more than 1,000 Oregon voters to move to the next step of qualifying for the ballot in November 2016. Once the initial signatures are verified, the initiatives move to the Oregon Attorney General to be titled, according to the campaign.

“Renewable energy has been good for the state, environmentally and economically, in both rural and urban areas. Now we need to accelerate our transition,” said Rachel Shimshak, Executive Director of Renewable Northwest. “This initiative will restore leadership to the state and satisfy the peoples’ longing for clean energy future. It’s all about new, clean generation for the next generation.”

The Scope of the Issues

The group claims there are already more than 1,500 megawatts of clean energy projects permitted and ready to move forward in Oregon -- according to the Energy Facility Siting Council -- enough to power a quarter-million homes.

“Climate change is affecting us in so many ways. It’s a serious challenge to air quality and people most affected are our seniors, our kids, and those living at the edge of poverty,” said Renée Klein, President & CEO of the American Lung Association in the Mountain Pacific . “If you know any parents of asthmatic kids, they’ll tell you nothing is scarier than watching your child struggle to take a breath. Oregon can be a bellweather, a leader in transitioning to healthier ways of powering our lives.”

“We’re kicking things off in Portland, but we already have plans to gather signatures from Bend to Eugene, Medford to Pendleton,” said Thomas Wheatley, Campaign Director for Renew Oregon. “There is support in all corners of the state to transition off out-dated, polluting coal and replace it with renewable energy.”

Initiative Petition 63 will require that large utilities phase out power generated from coal-fired power plants by 2030 in Oregon and obtain 50% of new generation from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2040.

Initiative Petition 64 will do all of the above with the addition of an added a mechanism that will ensure corporate compliance with the law. If utilities fail to comply with the pollution reduction standards in the measure, executive salaries will be adjusted in line with their performance.