Merkley

The crisis between Ukraine and Russia is providing an opportunity to move the world further away from fossil fuel dependence.

That was one of the takeaways shared by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley during a virtual town hall Tuesday, March 8.

Merkley briefly touched on the war, and called the actions by Russia “horrific.”

When asked about the opportunity the conflict has given to move away from foreign oil — and fossil fuels in general — Merkley said there is a real incentive to make that move.

“For 50 years presidents (of) both parties have said we’re going to end our dependence on foreign oil, we’re going to transition away from fossil fuels, but in the early period of that 50 years we didn’t have the climate effect, and renewables weren’t inexpensive,” he said. “… There’s already a huge reason, but you throw in this situation that you see producers like Russia are using their leverage with fossil fuels to attempt to kind of (keep) Europe from not supporting Ukraine. … The biggest way to take away the leverage is to reduce the world demand for oil and gas. A lot can be done.”

The senator spoke of the benefits of solar energy, and said efforts need to be made to improve charging stations for electric vehicles across the state. He also said costs are cheaper for renewable energy, and that electrifying more of the planet will be a benefit. He even cited Wallowa County as being a solar leader.

“The big picture, if we simplify this — it’s basically electrify everything with renewable energy,” he said. “If we do that, we will cut our costs, undermine the Russias and Irans of the world, and save our planet.”

The senator also addressed questions about recycling, forest health and the rural community getting federal support.

On recycling, Merkley touted his Break Free of Plastic Pollution Act and cited the concerns brought about by microplastics in the air and in food.

“Right now we’re eating (and breathing) the equivalent of one credit card of plastic a week,” he said. “Who wants to eat plastic? Microplastics are a problem.”

On forest health, he talked about what he saw from the Labor Day wildfires in 2020 and said there needs to be collaborative efforts to improve forest health — and he said that does include having some logging in place.

“I am working and have succeeded in getting a lot more funds for forest health, and what that means is a strategy of thinning in places where it increases fire resilience, and when you get that win-win you get jobs in the woods, jobs in the trucks, you get saw logs for the mills, and you get a forest that is more fire resilient,” he said.

He also said the recently passed infrastructure bill provides much-needed financial dollars for rural development, especially in the areas of transportation, broadband and water projects.

He cited, for example, $50 billion in the bill to help with water infrastructure.

“We did get a tremendous amount of funding that we never have had in this infrastructure bill,” he said.

He was also asked about dam removal on the Snake River, and said Washington Sen. Patty Murray is chairing a research project to learn more about that possibility.

“Can and how do we address the transportation issues, the flood control issues, irrigation issues, the recreation issues if we were to pursue dam removal?” he said of some of the questions that need to be addressed.