We request that the State Legislature convene a Special Session to draft a comprehensive Strategic Climate Change Plan for the State of Oregon in response to dramatic and continuing climate change. This plan needs to address the long-term impacts of droughts, flooding, wild fires and other extreme weather conditions on public safety and the state economy. It should take advantage of public-private partnerships to assist in drafting and implementing the plan. The plan should incorporate appropriate guidelines and standards already developed by the Georgetown Climate Center, the Oregon Climate Research Institute and Oregon state agencies .
Why is this important?
We have been experiencing record low snow falls, drought conditions, record temperatures, wild fires and flooding in different parts of the state which continue to escalate in severity year by year. It is time to stop using annual funding and independent climate studies and guidelines to respond to these disasters. We must now create a long-range strategic plan with permanent funding for the construction of new infrastructure, conservation incentive programs and regulations that will allow us to deal with these issues proactively.
