URGENT Action on Clean Cars Needed

Yesterday Senate Democrats and House Republicans agreed to add a dangerous measure to a budget bill that would prohibit the Governor from adopting the Clean Cars program in Oregon.

The Senate will vote on the measure very soon and we need your help right away. Help us show the senators that Oregonians want global warming solutions, not the head-in-the-sand approach that the auto industry is pushing.

Take a second right now and email your Senator, urging him or her to support Clean Cars and global warming solutions by voting against the budget for the Department of Environmental Quality.

To take action, click here or paste this link into your browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=300&id4=ES

Then ask your friends and family to do the same.

BACKGROUND
Governor Kulongoski has called for Oregon to adopt the Clean Cars program created in California. This program would be good for the environment and good for the economy. The Clean Cars program would set strong emissions standards for cars, including for global warming pollution, and require that a percentage of vehicles sold be advanced-technology or zero-emissions vehicles, such as hybrids. That means tens of thousands more advanced-technology cars and trucks for Oregonians. Detroit has the technology right now to make cleaner cars, but their availability to Oregonians is limited.

Limiting global warming pollution from cars is critically important; there's now scientific consensus that global warming is starting to change Oregon. Sea levels on parts on the central and northern Oregon Coast are rising and snowpack in the Cascades is shrinking, leading to reduced river flows and less water available for irrigation, hydropower, and salmon migration. The Clean Cars program requires cars to emit 30% less global warming pollution starting in 2009.

The good news is that cleaner cars are one of many ways we can reduce our global warming emissions while helping the local economy. By putting tens of thousands more advanced-technology cars on the market in Oregon, the Clean Cars program will give consumers more choices. And because the technologies that reduce global warming pollution also allow the cars to go farther on a mile of gas, Oregonians will save money at the pump.

Unfortunately, the auto industry is pressuring hard to stop the Governor from adopting this great program. They convinced the Oregon House of Representatives to pass a provision, tucked into the budget for the Department of Environmental Quality, prohibiting the Governor's administration from implementing the Clean Cars program. However, after more than 1,100 Oregonians emailed their legislators, three Republicans voted against that budget in the House, and the Senate refused to include a similar provision in their version of the budget.

But the auto industry kept up the pressure and when the Senate Democrats met with the House Republicans to negotiate the final budget deals, they decided to leave the auto industry's provision in the DEQ budget. The budget could be voted on as early as tomorrow (Wednesday). Our best hope for stopping this provision is for Governor Kulongoski to use his veto authority, but we also need as many Senators as possible to vote against the budget. That will send a message that Oregonians want solutions, not inaction, and it will strengthen the Governor's hand.