Dell co-authors op-ed saying Oregon needs to set example with climate action
Oregon has an opportunity right now to help tackle climate change and reverse the momentum of ever-greater carbon pollution and ever-riskier climate change impacts. Last month, Gov. Kitzhaber committed Oregon to the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, a partnership to put a price on carbon and to promote shared climate policies with California, Washington, and British Columbia.
For more than 10 years, the international community has pursued aggressive, binding, global agreements to reduce emissions of climate pollution, mostly carbon dioxide. It has repeatedly failed. At the same time, scientists issue increasingly dire forecasts of future climate change if those emissions are not reduced.
What we really need is to get the fundamentals right: stop trying to hit home runs and get some runners on base. We can implement realistic and effective policies at the state and regional level, without involving Washington, DC, adding a lot of onerous regulation, or expanding the size of government.