Daniel Scotton
Executive Director
Southern Oregon Climate Action Now
March 10th, 2025
Testimony supporting House Bill 3477
Chair Lively and members of the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment:
My name is Daniel Scotton and I am writing as Executive Director of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now. SOCAN is a grassroots climate organization of some 2,000 Southern Oregonians. We are concerned about the climate crisis and seek federal, state and local action to address it.
I am testifying today in strong support of HB 3477, as it represents a more unified and concerted effort to tackle the State’s greenhouse gas emissions. This action is not only valuable to protect the intangible assets found in Oregon’s environmental beauty, but also provides solid health and economic value to the residents of our state.
HB 3477 accomplishes two of the six overarching strategies put forward by the Oregon Climate Action Commission in their Oregon Climate Action Roadmap to 2030 [1]. These being:
A. Adopt updated state greenhouse gas goals consistent with the best available science, and;
B. Strengthen governance and accountability for Oregon Climate Action.
By establishing statewide goals in alignment with the Transformational Integrated Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction (TIGHGER) project Oregon can stay on track to meet the goals outlined in Executive Order 20-04, a reduction in emissions at least 45 percent below 1990s by 2023.
From the Oregon Climate Action Commission, “The TIGHGER analysis found that Oregon can feasibly achieve the accelerated goal — while also creating thousands of new jobs and more than $120 billion in cumulative NET economic and health benefits in the state” [2]. The effects of the climate crisis are expansive, touching nearly every aspect of our lives. To highlight just a few of these potential impacts, the 7th Oregon Climate Assessment (OCA7) by the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) suggests, “Projections of wildfire smoke and population in Oregon from 2046–2051 suggest that the number of cases of short-term health outcomes attributable to smoke are likely to increase considerably relative to 2005–2009 among all adults, and especially among older adults ”, and “In Oregon, Washington, and California, increasing wildfire exposure reduces timberland prices relative to those that would be applicable without a change in wildfire risk… [a] warmer and drier climate also depresses timberland prices due to higher risk of drought stress” [3, 7 – 8].
In terms of wildfire smoke as an effect on public health, the OCA7 notes, “The number of smoke wave day-related emergency department visits for all cardiovascular causes by older adults in Oregon, per six years, could nearly triple between 2005 and 2050” [4, 252]. This increased health risk is amplified by the structural integrity of our health care systems, threatening to destabilize an already wounded industry, and by Oregon’s aging population, a population of whom will increasingly find themselves within the age range of maximum risk. Oregonian’s should not be asked to sacrifice their quality of life in order to perpetuate the business-as-usual mentality that led us to this position.
For those proponents of the status quo that ask of us to consider the value of the timberland, above that of environmentalism, of the inherent beauty of our wildlands, or of the lived quality of life, the OCA7 points out, “Increasing risk of wildfire can affect the economic value of timberland in at least two ways. First, forest parcels that are burned sell for less because they have fewer standing trees of commercial or non-market (e.g., recreational) value. Second, if current and potential landowners expect wildfire to become more frequent, then prices should fall the most in places with the largest increases in wildfire risk, even if parcels have not burned prior to sale” [5, 117 – 118].
Additionally, to put the economic arguments in favor of inaction to rest. OCCRI continues, “Wildfire smoke in 2020 reportedly was a major contributor to a 29 percent decrease in grape production in Oregon from 2019 to 2020, and wildfires across the United States in 2020 caused $3.7 billion in losses to the national wine industry (Beck 2022)” [6, 123]. In the last legislative session, Oregon approved $218 million dollars to cover the costs of wildfires across the state in 2024 [7].
The cost of inaction is staggering. The cost to the lives of Oregon residents, and to their ability to pursue the American dream in the form of economic security. When will the cost be high enough to trigger a comparative response? To SOCAN the Rubicon has been crossed.
HB3477 represents a more unified and concerted effort to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, this action is not only valuable to protect the intangible assets in Oregon’s environmental beauty, but also provides solid health and economic value to the residents of our state. This bill underscores Oregon’s commitment to a holistic approach in combating climate change, integrating updated goals with the Oregon Climate Action Commission’s expanded role in monitoring and evaluation.
SOCAN urges your support for HB3477.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Daniel Scotton
803 North Main St.
Ashland, OR
[email protected]
541-890-0504
Sources Cited:
[1] Oregon Climate Action Commission. “Roadmap to 2030.” Oregon Climate Action Commission, 2023, climate.oregon.gov/tighger#:~:text=action%20moving%20forward.-,OREGON%20CLIMATE%20ACTION%20ROADMAP%20TO%202030,Gas%20Emissions%20Reduction%20Project%20Report. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
[2] Oregon Global Warming Commission. Transformational Integrated Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Project Report: Informing the Oregon Climate Action Roadmap to 2030. March 2023. www.keeporegoncool.org. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.. Pp 25
[3] Fleishman, E., editor. 2025. Seventh Oregon climate assessment.
Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/1181. Pp 7 -8
[4] Fleishman, E., editor. 2025. Seventh Oregon climate assessment.
Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/1181. Pp 252
[5] Fleishman, E., editor. 2025. Seventh Oregon climate assessment.
Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/1181. Pp 117-118
[6] Fleishman, E., editor. 2025. Seventh Oregon climate assessment.
Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/1181. Pp 123
