HB 2700 Extending electric rebates

Alan R.P. Journet Ph.D.
Cofacilitator
Southern Oregon Climate Action Now
alan@socan.eco
541-500-2331
February 18th 2023

Reference HB 2700

Chair Marsh and members of the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment:

I write as cofacilitator of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN), an organization of over 2,000 rural Southern Oregonians who are concerned about the climate crisis and urge statewide action to address it. The mission of SOCAN is to promote awareness and understanding of the science of global warming and its climate chaos consequences and stimulate individual and collective action to address it. Since rural Oregonians occupy the frontlines in experiencing the impact of the drought, shrinking snowpack, wildfires and extreme weather that the climate crisis imposes, we are strongly committed to statewide action.

We are well aware that the Transportation sector is responsible for the largest total of assessed and regulated emissions and that there exist rebates for the purchase or lease of on-road electric vehicles.  It seems, however, that current programs have overlooked the fact that there is becoming available an increasing availability of off-road non-transportation equipment that historically has relied on the internal combustion engine but now can be powered by electric batteries. This includers tractors, but also other important equipment such as chain saws and even the unfortunately ubiquitous leaf-blower. We presume that this omission is merely an oversight and therefore strongly urge the rebate system should be expanded. For this reason, we strongly support HB 2700 as it stands, but would be even more supportive if it were amended to include other equipment that could equally contribute to our efforts at reducing climate pollution as we live and work if rebates were available.  Let’s incentivize Oregonians to avoid the internal combustion engine in every way possible.

For these reasons, SOCAN supports the effort embodied in HB 2700

Respectfully Submitted

Alan Journet