Please see Climate Emergency Overview here.

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• Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Emergency Management Package

• State, Federal and UN News and Reports

• Climate Lawsuits/Our Children's Trust

As of Aug 8th the governor ‘s deadline to veto bills has passed and no Climate related bills were affected. See June 30 CE LR for complete list of all Climate League advocacy legislation. 

One of many Federal Executive Branch actions affecting policy and Funding that unfavorably affects Oregon Climate Action Plans: The White House took down the nation’s top climate report. You can still find it here - OPB

Inside Trump’s campaign to censor climate science - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment - LSE.

How Trump Is Transforming the U.S. Government’s Environmental Role - The New York Times

The expected Transportation budget special session will start Aug 29.  Gov. Tina Kotek calls for special session, delays ODOT layoffs | OPB.

The League expects the Transportation Climate Friendly funding issues will be addressed. 

Additionally, Critical Energy infrastructure, Natural & Working Lands, Environmental Justice, Nuclear Energy Safety, Community Resiliency and other Climate CE failed policy and budget priorities could reappear in the 2026 short session. 

Find additional Climate legislation in the NR Leg Report.

Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Emergency Management Package

By Nikki Mandell and Laura Rogers

None of the CEI bills which the League supported advanced this session.

• HB 2151: LWVOR supported HB 2151’s expansion of the permitted purposes for which monies in the Seismic Risk Mitigation Fund could be spent. Testimony;  

• HB 2152 would have directed the Department of Energy to create an action plan based on the Energy Security Plan, including strategies to increase geographic diversity of liquid fuel storage by region, strategies to improve statewide liquid fuel reserves, and a prioritized list of locations for expanding storage capacity at existing storage sites or developing storage capacity elsewhere. Testimony;  

• HB 2949 would have directed the Department of Energy to assess the potential for requiring owners of terminals located in the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub to obtain risk bonds (i.e., financial assurance for costs associated with catastrophic releases after an earthquake) Testimony;   

The League submitted comments on HB 3450, saying LWVOR agreed with the urgent need for a transition plan for the storage of bulk oils and liquid fuels held in the CEI Hub. However, the bill needed amendments to clarify both the objectives of such a plan and the process  used to achieve those objectives. For instance, it would help to identify what is meant by “resilience of the energy sector”.Testimony,  

In July, the Risk Bond Coalition agreed that the current goal is to file and enact a risk bond bill similar to HB 2949 and a forward placement bill similar to HB 2152 in the 2026 legislative session. The group has a strategy and is implementing first steps now.

State, Federal, and UN News and Reports

Federal Environmental Justice Tracker – Environmental and Energy Law Program | EELP Law Harvard

Governor Kotek Releases Statement in Response to Climate Danger Rollback | Gov Kotek Press Release

Oregon: 2025 Energy and Climate Policies Recap | 7/16 CETI 

Oregon’s 2025 Legislative Session: Climate Wins, Losses, and the Road Ahead | 7/3, Climate Solutions,

World Court says countries are legally obligated to curb emissions, protect climate | 7/23, UN News

New law to bring climate education to classrooms across Oregon | 7/24, OPB

Merkley, Senate and House Colleagues Fight for Children's Fundamental Right to a Healthy, Livable Planet | 7/16 , Sen Merkley

2025 Legislative Session Debrief | 7/9, Oregon Environmental Council

See How Oregon is Addressing Environmental Justice and Environmental Justice for Farmworkers | EJ State by State .org

Youth and DC Lawmakers Rally Behind Climate Rights Resolution | Bloomberg 

A Fresh Look at Eastern Oregon Issues - Pac/West Lobby Group

Detailed Clean Energy and GHG Emission Mitigation Topics

The momentum of legislation to advance Oregon’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction programs and goals slowed further in the 2025 regular session. Climate advocates often found themselves “playing defense” to prevent existing beneficial programs or policies from being rolled back or defunded. Some key bills were shelved or weakened. 

Notably, HB 3477 again failed to advance, as in 2024. This bill would have modernized Oregon’s woefully outdated statutory goals for reducing GHG emissions, updating the 2050 goal and replacing the outdated interim goals with new goals for 2030 and 2040, in line with current science aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The measure became a “sacrificial lamb” in 2024 deliberations and evidently retained that status this year. 

The trucking industry mounted a concerted campaign to delay, if not kill outright, Oregon’s Clean Truck Rules, which are aimed at incentivizing the shift from production and use of gas- and diesel-powered trucks to cleaner electric- or hydrogen-powered options. The industry-backed HB 3119 sought to delay implementation of the rules by an additional year to 2027. It likely would have passed but became moot when DEQ pledged to use “enforcement discretion” to provide temporary relief to manufacturers that face challenges in meeting their ZEV sales targets. On July 10, the EQC formally voted to delay implementation. The outlook for these rules beyond 2027 is highly uncertain. The trucking industry seems likely to keep seeking to kill the program, especially as the U.S. EPA has revoked the federal waivers that allowed California, Oregon, and other states to implement stricter emissions rules for heavy-duty trucks. 

HB 2961 would have increased the percentage of electrical service capacity for EV charging that must be installed in parking areas of certain new multifamily and mixed-use buildings in the Portland metro area. The bill died in the Rules Committee.

Utility regulation, rate affordability, and transmission issues captured more attention and support. Bills that passed with the support of LWVOR and our advocacy partners included:

• The FAIR Energy Act (HB 3179), limiting how often utilities may raise billing rates, and prohibiting residential rate increases during peak winter months;

• Performance-Based Regulation of Electrical Utilities (SB 688), creating tools for the PUC to ensure that utility profits align with actual performance outcomes—wildfire safety, grid reliability, and lower bills for ratepayers;

• HB 3792, requiring investor-owned electric utilities to collect at least $40 million per year for low-income electric bill payment and crisis assistance, double the minimum amount in current law;

• The POWER Act (HB 3546), signed by the governor, directing the PUC to hold large energy users such as data centers, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence facilities accountable for paying for their share of electricity costs; 

• HB 3336, signed by the governor, requiring investor-owned utilities to file strategic plans with the PUC to use grid-enhancing technologies where cost-effective, reducing the need to build new transmission lines; 

• The Hydrogen Oversight & Public Notice Act (SB 685), signed by the governor, ensuring that natural gas customers are informed about, and have an opportunity to comment on, a utility’s plans to increase the amount of hydrogen blended with natural gas;

• HB 2066, requiring the PUC to establish a regulatory framework for allowing the ownership and deployment of microgrids and community microgrids within electric utilities’ service territories.

The gloomier than expected budget outlook stifled advocates’ ambitions for state spending on clean and renewable energy. In addition, the failure of the major Transportation package derailed efforts to invest in clean transportation. 

Lawmakers authorized no additional funding for existing ODOE programs offering grants and rebates for clean and renewable energy projects. HB 2567, signed by the governor, extends the Residential Heat Pump program and fund through 2032, and allows ODOE to provide additional incentives for contractors installing heat pumps in rural or frontier communities, but the final budget contains no additional dollars to support the program. HB 2566 would have made stand-alone energy resilience projects eligible for ODOE's Community Renewable Energy grants, and HB 3081 would have provided support for ODOE to launch One Stop Shop 2.0 to help users navigate the diverse funding sources available to make home energy upgrades more affordable. Both bills died in Joint Ways and Means.

These programs are likely to run out of funding soon if they haven’t already, while the Trump administration seeks to gut key climate investments authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Oregon and other states have benefited enormously from federal dollars over the past three years to support clean energy development, electric vehicle infrastructure, rebates for home electrification, and frontline community resilience. Unless the state steps up to fill some of the funding gap, the blow to Oregon’s clean energy transition could be severe.

At times, the sheer volume of bills moving through the 2025 legislature threatened to paralyze the system and created confusion as to the most salient legislative priorities. HB 2006 would have addressed this by limiting the number of bills that state agencies and officials, policy committees, and individual lawmakers could ask the Legislative Council to prepare in a session beginning in an odd-numbered year. The measure died in committee.

Climate Lawsuits/Our Children's Trust

Here is one example of how to track ODEQ Climate Protection Program cases. Basically, there are a number of active federal lawsuits, Climate Litigation July 11 Updates 

Another source: Columbia University Law - Sabin Climate DB lists 86 lawsuits , (active and dismissed) mentioning Oregon.

July 16, 2025, Congressional Resolution* — Our Children's Trust

LWVOR has requested LWV to provide congressional advocacy and approval to LWVOR to lobby Oregon’s Congressional team concerning Congressional *Children's Fundamental Rights to Life and Stable Climate System resolution, supporting the principles underpinning Lighthiser v. Trump, the new case brought by 22 young Americans challenging the Trump administration’s pro-fossil fuel and anti-climate science Executive Orders. The resolution is sponsored by Senator Merkley, Representatives Schakowsky, Jayapal, and Raskin. 

Find major progress on climate related litigation at Our Children’s Trust website.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:  What is your passion related to Climate Emergency ?  You can help. Volunteers are needed.  The short legislative session begins in January of 2026. Many State Agency Boards and Commissions meet regularly year-round and need monitoring.  If any area of climate or natural resources is of interest to you, please contact Peggy Lynch, Natural Resources Coordinator, or Claudia Keith Climate Emergency at peggylynchor@gmail.com Or climatepolicy@lwvor.org.  Training will be offered.

Interested in reading additional reports? Please see our Governance, Revenue, Natural Resources, and Social Policy report section