Press Release
On Wednesday, August 21st, at noon, community members will protest outside of NW Natural Gas offices at 250 SW Taylor in downtown Portland to oppose the company’s efforts to undermine, delay and weaken Oregon’s Climate Protection Program. The Climate Protection Program (CPP) aims to reduce 80-90% of harmful emissions from the state’s largest polluters by 2050. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is taking verbal testimony on the state’s revised CPP and has scheduled a second day for testimony on September 26, 2024, and written testimony has been extended to September 27, 2024 (see oregon.gov/deq/ghgp/cpp).
Implementation of the CPP was delayed for three years on a technicality following a suit by oil and gas companies, including NW Natural Gas. This month, NW Natural Gas sent out a newsletter to customers critiquing the program, giving misleading information (see Oregon Capital Chronicle article 8/13), and seemingly urging customers to testify against the CPP. They also claimed that the CPP would raise customer rates, while not mentioning that they have applied to the Oregon Public Utilities Commission (OPUC) for a rate increase equivalent to 18% for residential customers this fall. This week, NW Natural Gas purchased a deceptive half page ad in the Oregonian claiming they will decrease rates, while giving themselves leeway to change that in September based on commodity pricing and NOT mentioning their $155 M rate increase request to the OPUC for non-commodity items, including profit margin increases. NW Natural Gas pays subsidies to developers to encourage homes built with methane gas, despite indoor air quality hazards. There is evidence that gas stoves increase the risk of serious respiratory conditions and other diseases.
NW Natural Gas attacks the CPP’s Community Climate Investment credits hoping to delay or reduce their pollution penalties, thus undermining efforts to bring environmental justice to frontline communities who are already being affected by devastating climate-fueled extreme weather and public health and safety risks. The community investment projects funded by holding accountable the largest state polluters’ penalties are critical to community climate resiliency and will themselves reduce emissions.
Those speaking out on Wednesday are urging that the CPP program be kept strong with science-based emission reductions standards, that the pricing structure for CCI credits be upheld, and that the rules language be strengthened so that the program is implemented at the earliest possible date. A strong Climate Protection Program will create jobs, protect community health, mitigate against climate chaos, and provide critical environmental justice investments in the most vulnerable communities. All of this is in line with a vision of needing to reverse the global economy away from profit-making and economic growth for the wealthy and toward meeting the fundamental needs of the Earth and all its inhabitants.
