Guest Column: Cap and trade won’t solve any problems

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, February 20, 2020

I was deeply saddened to read the editorial published by The Astorian in support of the cap-and-trade bill being considered by state lawmakers. Not only did the content ignore some very basic realities about our community, but also because it lacked the key perspective from key voices in our community. I am disappointed the editorial board does not understand what makes the North Coast tick.

As the union president representing workers at one of our region’s largest employers, the Wauna Mill, I’m deeply concerned about the impact cap and trade could have on our operations, as well as the budgets of my co-workers and the families of our rural community.

There is no question that both consumers and businesses are going to see increased costs if the cap-and-trade bill under consideration is adopted. It will raise gas prices, it will raise natural gas rates, and it will make it harder for trade-exposed businesses like the Wauna Mill to remain competitive in global markets. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

The editorial suggested that lawmakers have taken pains to craft a more “sensible” bill than what was considered last year, and that lawmakers have shown “an interest in listening to industry.” I could not disagree with this more.

Not only is Senate Bill 1530 worse — yes, worse — than HB 2020 in several areas, “showing an interest” in outside perspectives hardly equates to adopting meaningful amendments to protect jobs in our community. All lawmakers have really done is made some minor changes on the margins, patted us on the head, and told us they’ve taken care of our issues.

You’ll forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical.

First, I take issue with the idea that a regional approach to regulating transportation is somehow going to protect us. It merely changes how slowly we bleed. While it may be true that local residents will get a break in the first years of the program, consumers will undoubtedly pay higher gas prices down the road. The most vulnerable members of our community will be the ones that suffer the most from these increases, which AAA estimates to be as much as 22 cents per gallon.

The Wauna Mill itself will experience these increases on day one of the program. That’s because the vast majority of our product moves out of the region by freight through the Portland metro area. There’s no question our operations will take an immediate hit from this bill.

Second, the new proposal continues to ignore the fact that pulp and paper products manufactured here in Oregon are among the greenest products produced anywhere in the world. Our industry’s commitment to sustainability through the use of renewable energy and a commitment to efficiency is unparalleled.

Despite this, the latest cap-and-trade bill continues to punish our industry by placing what is, in effect, a tax on our energy usage. The bill also forces us to comply with an extremely costly and bureaucratic verification process that would be controlled by an unelected state Department of Environmental Quality board that could move the goalposts on us at any time. That’s not exactly the recipe for continued investment in our mill.

Lastly, any legislation that gives all of the displaced workers extra training and extended unemployment benefits is a clear sign that the authors acknowledge the bill is intended to be a job killer. The emergency clause should be removed and let the hard working people of this state determine their fate.

This cap-and-trade bill doesn’t solve any problems, it just creates new ones, and is just gateway feel-good legislation. If Oregon was to go to zero carbon emissions tomorrow the reduction in total global carbon emissions would be less than 1%.

With the demand for paper on the rise, the real result of this bill would be shifting our environmental impact to states or countries that cannot and will not make paper as efficiently and as green as we can at Wauna.

If SB 1530 passes, the Wauna Mill will be the only pulp mill of its kind in the country to be under a cap-and-trade program. It won’t be today and it might not be tomorrow, but a cap-and-trade program will start the clock until the last roll of paper is made by our mill. And that day will be a sad day for our community.

If you need proof of how a cap-and-trade program kills an industry, just look to California, where all of the pulp mills have closed.