2021-2022 Environmental Scorecard for the Oregon Legislature

Climate Catastrophes Demanded Urgency

Legislators Responded

During the 2021 and 2022 Legislative Session, elected officials responded to the urgency created by a global pandemic, extreme climate weather events, and historically destructive wildfires. They passed several climate bills called the Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity -- including 100% Clean Energy by 2040. The Legislature also passed comprehensive wildfire policy and a budget that strongly supported important -- and historically underfunded -- state agencies and invested in resilience to climate change.

Not only did we have an incredibly productive full session in 2021, we got a lot done in the short session in 2022 as well. So much so, that for the second time since 2015, we have decided to update the 2022 scorecard to include eight more bills from the 2022 short session. While the 2021 legislative session was successful in many ways, still too many important bills were left by the wayside––thankfully we were able to get a number of those bills and many new ones over the finish line in 2022.

During the incredibly productive 2022 short session we passed many historic pieces of legislation including the Elliott State Research Forest bill (ensuring the Elliott stays in public hands), the Private Forest Accords, the Emergency Heat Relief Bill, and Farmworker Overtime. The legislature also established and funded an Environmental Justice Task Force, and the Resilient Efficient Building Task Force. A $100 million climate budget was another major victory.

We also killed every bad bill that came up in 2022––including a poorly vetted bill that could have threatened the quality of housing in our state and a bill that would have misused money from the Wolf Compensation Fund to essentially subsidize ranchers for missing livestock even if they were not killed by wolves.

As always, there’s a lot of work left to do, and we at OLCV are committed to doing the hard work -- hopefully with you -- to keep passing strong climate, environmental, and environmental justice policies.

More from the scorecard:

What next?

  1. Tell your legislators you know the score.
  2. Spread the word: #orleg #olcvscore
  3. Donate.

Tell your legislators you know the score. It only takes a minute to say thanks — or no thanks — to your legislators. Then, share this scorecard with your friends, family, and neighbors so they can find out their elected officials’ results. Finally, because we could not accomplish our mission without the generous help of our members, please make a donation so that we can continue the fight to address climate change and protect Oregon’s natural beauty.

Find your legislator:

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Explore the bills:


Bill Graveyard

While we had four significant wins this session including the Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity package of bills – 100% Energy for All, Energy Affordability, and Healthy Homes – and comprehensive wildfire policy, we still had a number of important environmental bills that died due to industry pressure on legislators. Read more in the Bill Graveyard

 
 

About OLCV

The Oregon League of Conservation Voters is a non-partisan organization with a simple mission: to pass laws that protect Oregon's environmental legacy, elect pro-environment candidates to office, and hold all of our elected officials accountable.

For more information about OLCV, visit our website at olcv.org.

About the Scorecard

For more than 40 years, OLCV has protected Oregon's natural legacy. An essential part of our work is holding our elected officials accountable. The OLCV Environmental Scorecard is not only one of our most important accountability tools, but also a tradition. The first scorecard was published in 1973.

By sharing how each member of the Legislature voted on the most critical conservation bills, we help Oregonians understand whether legislators listened to their constituents, or if they listened to special interest groups instead. It also serves as a summary of environmental bills and includes special recognition of the legislative champions.