One of the runaway Oregon Republican senators said they won’t return to the state until the “inefficient, complicated, and expensive” carbon tax is scrapped and a bipartisan solution is found.
Oregon State Senator Tim Knopp appeared on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday morning from an undisclosed location as he and other 11 Republicans remain in hiding to block the looming climate change legislation – all while the state police were authorized by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown to round them up.
He said that the Republican walkout was warranted given the damage the legislation would inflict upon the people of Oregon but stressed that they too want to combat climate change.
“We do want to take action on climate change but this was a carbon tax and one of the most inefficient, complicated, and expensive ways to address [the reduction of] carbon dioxide emissions.”
“All we’re saying is it shouldn’t cost thousands of manufacturing jobs, raise the gas tax by 20 cents a gallon to start out with, and raise natural gas prices for people who heat their home by almost 50 percent.”
—Oregon State Senator Tim Knopp
“All we’re saying is it shouldn’t cost thousands of manufacturing jobs, raise the gas tax by 20 cents a gallon to start out with, and raise natural gas prices for people who heat their home by almost 50 percent. We think there’s a better way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and so we’re holding out and the only way we could do that and stop this vote is by not providing a quorum for Democrats to roll over us,” he added.
The bill would limit greenhouse gas emissions and auction pollution allowances for carbon that businesses want to emit, with a lowering cap.
The bill would reduce emissions to 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2035 and 80 percent by 2050. Critics say it will hurt the business community and exacerbate a divide between the liberal, urban areas and rural parts of the state.
Knopp confirmed that the state police is indeed after the runaway Republicans, with the police superintendent being “firm” on him in asking for his return.
“I politely declined his offer and he indicated that at any time he would be prepared to facilitate my return to the capital,” the lawmaker said.
The state senator said that the bill the Democrats are pushing for doesn’t address the real sources of carbon emissions, including the forest fires that are ruining the state, and the fact that people in Republican districts are opposed to it.
We do believe in taking action to reduce carbon emissions, but HB 2020 is an inefficient, expensive, and constitutionally flawed bill that puts the livelihoods of many Oregonians at risk. We are fighting to refer it to the ballot to let the people vote!https://t.co/vlc1Oh4KBM
— Tim Knopp (@SenatorKnopp) June 25, 2019
“When you tell them what it actually does and not just go with talking points about it being clean energy jobs, people are very opposed to it, and statewide I think they would be too. One of the things we’ve said is, if you’re so confident that people want this, let’s refer it to the people of Oregon, let’s let them debate it and let’s let them vote on it which we have that process here in Oregon,” he said.
If Oregon adopts the legislation, it would be the second state after California to adopt such a policy, raising questions whether the legislation is more beneficial to the state of California rather than Oregon.
“The state of California needs more carbon credits and so really this is a great deal for the state of California, not so great of a deal for Oregon and small businesses and the people who get their livelihood,” Knopp said.
“There’s a factory that makes paper towels … with 2,000 blue collar jobs, union jobs, and that plant right now is at risk because of this bill and we just find that unacceptable and we’re going to stand with these people, and fight as long as we possibly can and we hope to win,” he added, noting that they are likely to remain in hiding until June 30th at midnight, the date when the legislative session constitutionally ends.
Read more at Fox News
Very well written article, with some additional information I haven’t seen before.
The Climate Change political Left, meaning the Democrat Party, is certifiably insane.
Republicans in Oregon are fighting the good fight.
Oregon State Senator Tim Knopp said, “We do want to take action on climate change” This shows a huge problem in that even being a Republican he has brought into the fraud. No action is needed on climate change because it doesn’t exist. There is very strong correlation between solar output and the Earth’s climate and a weak correlation to carbon dioxide levels. The entire thing is based on the UN IPCC climate models which are not supported by real world data. The big problem we have with climate change is the climate change movement with its huge cost and damage to the environment.
I got careless in this post when I said that climate change doesn’t exist. Of course climate change exists, the climate has always been changing. What doesn’t exist, or if it does it is very small, is anthropological climate change.
Combat climate change , tackle climate change …are these people nuts ?
The climate will do what ever natural variables create . Are we going to stop the next ice age by expanding cow farts ?
What we have here is a climate credibility issue .
Con men pumping the tires of an overblown fraud .
The premise of this fraud is a trace gas very favorable to plant growth can be used as a thermostat and by playing around with the plant food gas we can magically control the temperature within a degree or two .
$Trillions just peed away , 10’s of thousands of lives lost to fuel poverty and these criminals think they can get away with it ?
Stick to your guns protesting Oregon Senators you are on the right side of
this .
The people who are pushing this fraud should be in hiding .