Climate fight divides Oregon

Liberal urbanites differ with rural, conservative areas

PORTLAND, Ore. — The divide in Oregon between the state’s liberal cities and its conservative and economically depressed rural areas has made it fertile ground for the political crisis unfolding over a push by Democrats to enact sweeping climate legislation.

Eleven Republican senators were in the seventh day of a walkout Wednesday to deny the supermajority Democrats the number of lawmakers needed to vote on a cap and trade bill, which would be the second of its kind in the United States.

Experts say the standoff was inevitable given the state’s political makeup.

Oregon has a national reputation as a liberal bastion best known for its craft beer, doughnuts and award-winning wine. But while its cities lean left, about 40 percent of residents — mostly those in rural areas — consistently vote Republican, said Priscilla Southwell, a University of Oregon professor who wrote “Governing Oregon.”

“The reality is that it is a much more divided state than people realize,” she said. “It’s kind of like a perfect storm for this kind of thing to happen.”

That political divide also translates to an economic chasm for many. As Portland has boomed, huge swaths of the state have been left without enough money to keep libraries open or fully staff sheriff ’s departments.

Logging, which once thrived, has been significantly reduced because of environmental restrictions and a changing global economy. Rural voters worry the climate legislation would be the end for logging and trucking.

“It’s going to ruin so many lives, it’s going to put so many people out of work,” said Bridger Hasbrouck, a self-employed logger from Dallas, Oregon.

The proposal would dramatically reduce greenhouse gases over 30 years by capping carbon emissions and requiring businesses to buy or trade from an ever-dwindling pool of pollution “allowances.”

Democrats say the legislation is critical to make Oregon a leader in the fight against climate change and will ultimately create jobs and transform the economy.

Republicans say it will kill jobs, raise the cost of fuel and other goods and gut small businesses. They also say they’ve been left out of policy negotiations, an assertion the governor called “hogwash.”