Division

The familiar scent of freshly cut timber hung over the Capitol steps this morning.  Loggers, truck drivers and those working in the timber industry gathered alongside their families.  Legislators joined them to protest House Bill 2020, legislation that would create a cap-and-trade system in Oregon designed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in areas including transportation, utilities and manufacturing.

Bob Savage (middle of the photo) a log truck driver from Astoria, Oregon, flanked by several fellow truck drivers, told me about the damage this legislation would do, not only to their livelihood, but also to the economy in Oregon overall.  "Bad deal for all of us," Bob said.  

On the other side of the debate, many democrats in the legislature argue that the effects of climate change are killing us and will be far more expensive to deal with if nothing is done.  The stated hope is that the bill would reduce emissions to 80% below levels that were recorded in 1990 and achieve this by 2050.  

A vote in favor of the bill passed in the Oregon House earlier this week and the Senate is set to vote on it soon.  Situations like this, with dramatically different viewpoints, always make me wonder what our society could accomplish if we tried substantive and alternative ways to have conversations and resolve differences.