Oregon Republicans LEAVE the state, say they won’t return until Democrats drop burdensome Climate Change bill

Oregon Republicans have left the state and now refuse to come back because of a burdensome Climate Change bill Democrats are trying to pass:

By not returning to the state, Republicans are denying the legislative quorum needed to have a vote on the bill.

The Democratic governor has even instructed the state police to round them up and bring them back to the capitol.

Here’s more:

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 was 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 reduction carbon dioxide emissions,” Knopp said.

“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 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 says the real threat of carbon emissions comes from forest fires around the state, but Democrats would rather use this carbon tax that will kill jobs:

“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.

It’s bad enough to kill jobs in the name of climate change. But raising the price of natural gas by 50% which would make it more expensive for people to stay warm in the winter is unthinkable.

I honestly can’t blame them for standing up for the people this way. Fortunately for them the end of the legislative session is only 5 days away.


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