Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed an international ​West Coast Climate Agreement with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and British Columbia Premier John Horgan this week, promising to work together to halt climate change.

That agreement updates the charter for the Pacific Coast Collaborative, an international governmental agency formed by the three U.S. states and the Canadian province in 2008. The immediate problems it seeks to address are the recent drought, heat spells, climate change in general, and lack of equity among the communities

The new agreement commits the West Coast populations to low-carbon technologies, renewable fuels, electric transportation, and “forest resiliency”--that is, reduction of wildfires. Brown has been advocating a reduced dependence on diesel trucking for several years. The governors announced a mutual intention to "dominate" the world's green energy industries.

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The document specifies that the agreement has no status in law or mechanism of enforcement.

Some Internet commentators have commented on the unspoken contrast between the dire shortage of fresh water and electric power in California, and the abundance of water and hydroelectric power (potential) in the Northwest; some have wondered whether this Collaborative will become a foundation for sharing those resources.

Currently, Oregon generates about half its utility power from fossil fuels. Following California, Oregon is also developing its own Advanced Clean Cars II regulation to move to 100% zero-emission new vehicles by 2035. But some groups are skeptical that such a radical conversion would be possible or reliable within the time frame.

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Though the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB) advocates for nuclear power as a viable alternative to fossil fuels, nuclear is not included in the Collaborative's plans. Nuclear power has seen decades of bitter opposition on the West Coast. The region has also seen some strategic failures, what with the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California that was built near a geological fault, the Trojan Plant in Oregon that became a maintenance nightmare, and the Columbia Generating Station in Washington that had some issues in the past with nuclear waste disposal.

At this time, the most practical solution for clean energy may be the Pacific Power proposal to build modern Natrium nuclear plants in the region, though there is no sign the state governments will permit those projects.


--Mark DeCoursey

Post Date: 2022-10-12 11:54:00

Last Update: 2022-10-12 11:55:25