Republicans in Oregon again fled the State Senate to block a vote on a climate bill despite getting extensive concessions.
Credit: Jimmy Emerson/Flickr
Republican state senators in Oregon fled the state capitol on Monday in a stunt intended to derail the passage of a climate change bill supported by a majority of lawmakers for the second time in eight months.
Oregon requires two-thirds of the state Senate’s members to be present for a quorum, without which the chamber cannot vote on bills. Eleven of the 12 Republican senators fled the state capitol in Salem on Monday to deny the Democratic supermajority a quorum to prevent a vote on a bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions that was approved by the budget committee earlier in the day, The Oregonian reported. The 11 Republicans who walked out represent just 36% of the state’s population, according to the outlet.
The cap-and-trade bill would impose a cap on carbon dioxide emissions and require certain industries to obtain “emissions allowances” for every metric ton of emissions. The bill seeks to reduce emissions […]
Nonviolent civil resistance works. Too bad the Democrats didn’t do this in US Congress when it came to tax cuts for the rich, record war budgets, ncutting the social safety net and so much more.