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Portland politicos sign on to Oregon Green New Deal

February 9, 2019

Statewide leaders are lining up in support of an eco-centric economic stimulus proposal introduced at the U.S. Capitol — while some Portland politicos are pushing for a more-radical solution tailored to the tree-lined streets of Stumptown.

Oregon's Green New Deal, as crafted by a coterie of 18 local environmental groups, would phase out fossil fuel infrastructure while charging toward 100 percent renewable energy, prohibit trash burners, remove dams and nuclear power plants, add new regulations to limit transportation emissions, retrain workers, protect farms and forests from pesticides and establish new institutions such as a Green Bank, among other changes.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is one of just nine federal lawmakers added to the newly-revived Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, which won't have the power to subpoena documents or compel citizens to testify. In a statement, the Beaverton Democrat said she would fight for policies that "strengthen the economy and protect our planet."