Dear @OregonGovBrown
We are distressed and alarmed by news that the @OregonDEQ is planning to exclude fossil gas-burning power plants from regulation under the Oregon Climate Action Plan, even before the rule-making process gets underway. 1/x

As a purported leader on Climate, how is it even possible that our State will not regulate power plant emissions, when fossil gas power plants are the largest stationary sources of climate pollution in Oregon? 2/x

Excluding fossil gas power plants from climate regulation would be like adopting a personal weight loss goal but still allowing unlimited ice cream in the plan. It renders the diet meaningless. 3/x

Given that we just finished the important work of closing the last coal-burning power plant in our state, ignoring the next generation of polluting power plants in a “Climate Protection Program” is both absurd and unconscionable. 4/x

Oregon’s public, private and non-profit sectors are investing immense resources in on-the-ground electrification efforts, such as electric car charging infrastructure, installation of heat pump water heaters in affordable housing, and all-electric buildings . . . 5/x

But electrification is only an effective climate strategy if paired with an aggressive plan to clean up the grid. When we pursue electrification and also give utilities the green light to operate fossil gas power plants, 6/x

. . . we are simply consolidating greenhouse gas emissions at those plants, rather than eliminating emissions altogether, as the science clearly and urgently tells us we must. 7/x

We are angered that @OregonDEQ DEQ has thus far refused to commit to strong targets for climate pollution reductions—especially interim goals. We are tired of unambitious targets, full of loopholes, for decades into the future. 8/x

We demand aggressive, near-term targets for reducing GHG pollution. 
 
We are tired of flowery, public-facing rhetoric that doesn't deliver actual change. 9/x

@OregonGovBrown How can we assure our children that we are fixing the climate crisis when our state agencies are selling out their future to corporate interests in the back room? 10/x

We are a group of proud Oregonian families who celebrated the signing of the Oregon Climate Action Plan last year. It is very likely that this executive order will be your biggest and most significant legacy, 11/x

. . . and you should do everything in your power to make it as meaningful as possible. 

This gross exemption cannot be allowed if you wish the ambitions of your executive order to become reality. 12/x

@OregonGovBrown We implore you to direct  @OregonDEQ to include gas-burning power plants and all other large polluters in the Climate Protection Program and set truly ambitious targets to protect the health and future of Oregon’s children. 13/x
#ORClimateAction #climateemergency

And if you are an Oregonian who, like us, finds this exemption unacceptable, please use this link to send an email today: http://bit.ly/ORCCP_GasPlants