Energy and Environment

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici says she continues to plug away at regional priorities, particularly in education and the environment, despite turmoil on the national political stage.

"I am an eternal optimist, even in these hard times," she said Thursday (Aug. 24) at a breakfast of the Westside Economic Alliance at the Embassy Suites in Tigard.

Democratic lawmakers from Oregon are backing U.S. solar manufacturers, including Hillsboro-based SolarWorld Americas Inc., in a high-profile trade investigation that the wider industry has portrayed as a threat to the solar installation boom.

CANNON BEACH — State Rep. Deborah Boone on Tuesday praised a bill approved by the Legislature that allows electricity produced from an ocean wave technology test site at Camp Rilea in Warrenton to be used to power the site.

Boone, a strong supporter of wave technology as renewable energy for the Oregon Coast, said initial tests conducted last summer showed promise for future growth in the industry.

Following President Trump's formal communication to the United Nations last Friday of the United States' intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the New York Times yesterday released a draft of the Climate Science Special Report, an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, which provides the scientific foundation for the Fourth National Climate Assessment.

Lamar Smith, head of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, has a penchant for releasing letters in which he complains about issues related to climate change.