Story Assignment: Climate Change Proposals Will Harm Low-Income Households

Oregon Center for Public Policy
Media Advisory

April 17, 2008

For More Information Contact: (503) 873-1201

* Michael Leachman, Policy Analyst
* Chuck Sheketoff, Executive Director

Climate Change Proposals Will Harm Low-Income Households Unless Regional Effort Acts to Protect Vulnerable Households

OCPP submitted comments to the Western Climate Initiative urging the states participating in the regional effort to commit to fully shielding lower-income households from the impact of energy price increases resulting from climate change policies.

"Climate change policies should not push households deeper into poverty," said the public comment memo submitted by OCPP in collaboration with colleagues from California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington.

OCPP's comments drew on research showing that price increases resulting from capping carbon emissions would hit lower-income households the hardest, and offered overarching principles for developing effective and efficient policies for protecting these households from facing additional hardship as a result of carbon emissions caps.

Read Public comment on the Western Climate Initiative's April 2, 2008 "Draft Allocations Design Recommendations," (PDF) jointly submitted by OCPP and the California Budget Project, the Children's Action Alliance of Arizona, New Mexico Voices for Children, Voices for Utah Children, and the Washington State Budget & Policy Center.

Visit OCPP's new Climate Change Resource Center for additional information.