For immediate release: Cap and pave: A bad deal for Oregon
Republicans and the fossil fuel industry are trying to roll back and rewrite state environmental laws at the last minute, in the dark
SALEM, OR – Today, the Oregon Legislature released its long-awaited transportation funding package, and while the proposal includes vital investments, it ultimately fails to deliver for people across the state. Members of the Move Oregon Forward coalition warn that without significant changes, the package will leave communities stranded and operating under half-baked policies that were crafted by the fossil fuel industry.
“Unfortunately, Democrats in charge are clearly letting Republicans take them for a ride and offering polluters their wish list at the expense of Oregonians, especially those most harmed by climate impacts. It’s like Christmas in May for polluters,” said Lindsey Scholten, executive director at Oregon League of Conservation Voters.
Powerful industry groups want to hijack Oregon’s climate programs with a “cap and pave” approach that will divert funds away from emissions reductions and clean air investments to fund more roads and highways. This is a direct betrayal of our state’s goals on climate and equity. A legitimate cap and invest program should limit pollution, make polluters pay, and reinvest those funds to electrification, clean air, and community-centered infrastructure—not act as a slush fund for more pollution.
Lawmakers should understand that cap and invest cannot, and will not be an immediate solution to Oregon’s transportation funding issues. “When industry writes the rules, priorities get flipped,” said Nora Apter, Oregon director at Climate Solutions. “Money meant to help people breathe easier and adapt to climate change ends up propping up the very same polluters that created this problem in the first place. Using climate dollars to fund pollution-heavy projects is like taxing cigarettes and spending the money on tobacco ads: it just doesn’t make sense.”
With just weeks left in the session, and after hundreds of Oregonians gave public comments and shared their stories, the package reflects few of the priorities consistently raised by residents across the state. “We need revenue today for the things Oregonians explicitly asked for,” said Cassie Wilson, author of the Report from the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation’s Listening Tour and transportation policy manager at 1000 Friends of Oregon. “We cannot support a transportation package that puts big polluters first while too many communities are still waiting for the basics they requested: safe sidewalks, reliable buses, and clean air.”
Despite months of negotiations on the transportation package, lawmakers did not consult community advocates, Tribes or environmental groups on the cap and pave portion. “The lack of progress on environmental justice is shocking,” said Cheyenne Holliday, advocacy manager at Verde. “The communities most affected by our current system – low-income families, rural Oregonians, people with disabilities – still aren’t seeing the investments they need in their communities.”
“This package takes money that was explicitly intended to begin repairing decades of harm to environmental justice communities and reroutes it to fuel the very systems that caused that harm in the first place,” said Joel Iboa, founding executive director at Oregon Just Transition Alliance. “It’s not just policy failure, it’s a moral failure from a legislature that claims to stand for equity."
Transportation is Oregon’s largest source of climate pollution. And yet, this package kneecaps Oregon’s progress on climate action. “Budgets are about values,” said Jana Gastellum, executive director at Oregon Environmental Council. “Climate tools shouldn’t be used to increase pollution; full stop. If legislators are serious about tackling our state’s climate pollution they should focus on expanding zero-emissions vehicles, installing more charging stations, and massive investments in transit services. We’re disappointed that today’s proposal fails to deliver on any of these at scale.”
“How did we even get here?” asked Sarah Iannarone, executive director at The Street Trust. “We spent the last two years working together across diverse groups to deliver Oregonians the safe streets, great transit, and ODOT oversight they’ve been demanding. This looks exactly like the empty framework we saw two months ago. Nobody asked for a rollback on climate programs – that wasn’t what safety groups like mine came to the table to discuss.”
Without stronger commitments from lawmakers, the state will be locking residents into a status quo that fails working families and frontline communities for decades to come. Passing a transportation package this session is not just about funding roads, it’s about protecting our health, our environment, and saving lives across our communities every day. It’s time Oregon’s investments matched the reality of what our communities are living through.
###
Move Oregon Forward is a coalition powered by transportation, climate, and environmental justice organizations from across the state. Our steering committee includes 1000 Friends of Oregon, Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation, Climate Solutions, Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Just Transition Alliance, Oregon Trails Coalition, Oregon Walks, The Street Trust, and Verde.
Media Contact:
Robin Rumancik, Oregon Environmental Council
robinr@oeconline.org
512-415-8801
Ally Harris, Oregon Just Transition Alliance
ally@ojta.org
503-208-4180
