OREGON

In the winter of 1859, Oregon became the 33rd state of the U.S. Today, with 4.2 million people over 98,000 square miles it is the ninth largest and 27th most populous U.S. state. Home to both the deepest lake and the largest mushroom, it is known for its extremely diverse and famously beautiful terrain. Native Americans had been maintaining the landscape for millennia with more than 60 tribes living throughout Oregon before colonization in the 19th century. By the 1830s the Oregon Trail had already established a direct route to the Pacific Northwest, a route the U.S. Government encouraged settler colonialists to travel in order to strengthen claims to the territory. White settlers began to arrive in large numbers in the early 1840s. Nine tribes are federally recognized in the state today.

CLIMATE IMPACTS

The Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (established by Governor Kulongoski in 2007) published its Seventh Oregon Climate Assessment in January 2025 from which much of this information is derived.

• Oregon’s annual average temperature has increased by about 2.2˚F per century since 1895. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels, temperatures are projected to increase on average by 5˚F by 2074 and 7.6˚F by the 2100s. 
• Heavy precipitation events are expected to become more intense in the winter because a warmer atmosphere can carry more moisture. 
• Snowfall is projected to drop 50% by 2100. By 2050, Oregon’s snowpack is expected to melt three to four weeks earlier, which decreases the amount of water flow in the summers. 
• Flooding along Oregon’s coastlines is anticipated to increase in frequency and severity. 
• Drought risk likely will increase over the twenty-first century on the western slopes of the Cascade Range and the southern Coast Range, decrease in the Deschutes and John Day basins in north-central Oregon, and change little elsewhere. Drought risk during summer is likely to increase statewide. 
• From 1984 through 2018, annual area burned in Oregon increased considerably. In 2020, more than 10% of Oregon’s citizens had to evacuate because of wildfires. By October 2021 more than 800,000 acres had burned in the state. Wildfires are threatening communities directly and indirectly via, for example, landslides and degraded water quality.
• Climate change is likely to stress Oregon’s infrastructure. Projected increases in sea level and precipitation intensities are expected to strain levees, tide gates, and sewer and stormwater infrastructure. Droughts may diminish hydropower production and the effectiveness of water-supply infrastructure. 
• Flows in rivers and streams have been increasing during late winter and early spring and decreasing during the summer. On the coast, Oregon will be facing an additional 6 inches of sea level rise within the next sixteen years. The waters off of the coast are also particularly vulnerable to acidification, one of the oceanic side-effects of excessive carbon-emissions, posing an urgent threat to those ecosystems. 
• This changing climatic suitability, as well as the disturbances like wildfires, drought, insects, and disease, will drastically shift Oregon’s forest landscape.
• A warmer and drier climate, increasing wildfire exposure and major smoke events are all conspiring to stress Oregon’s economic health,  the mental &physical health of its citizens, and its social systems.

ENERGY

With its sole coal-fired power plant closing in 2020 and its only nuclear plant decommissioned in 2006, Oregon has no coal or nuclear generation within its borders. Hydropower has traditionally provided more than half of the total electricity in the state, but its contribution has declined due to drought conditions in recent years. In 2025, in-state hydroelectric power accounted for about 45% of Oregon’s electricity generation, positioning Oregon as the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation, after Washington. Oregon has 63 utility-scale hydropower facilities, the four largest of which are federally owned and operated on the Columbia River. The second largest source of the state’s electricity generation in 2025 was natural gas at 34%. The rest of the state’s electricity generation is largely sourced from non-hydroelectric renewables which have more than doubled since 2011; wind power produced 14%, solar produced 5%, biomass was 2% and geothermal was less than 1%. Even though geothermal’s contribution is small, Oregon is third in the nation for geothermal potential, after Nevada and California.

However, because Oregon is part of an interconnected regional grid, the actual electricity resource mix consumed by Oregonians includes imported power. When factoring in these out-of-state imports and unspecified regional market purchases, coal still accounts for roughly 8% to 11% of the electricity used by consumers. To eliminate these emissions, Oregon enacted House Bill 2021. This law mandates that retail electricity providers reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sold to Oregon consumers to 80% below baseline levels by 2030, 90% by 2035, and 100% emission-free by 2040.

CLIMATE PLANS AND LEGISLATION 

In 2006, former Governor Kulongoski created the Governor’s Climate Change Integration Group, leading to the Oregon Climate Change Adaptation Framework in 2010. This was updated to the 2021 State Agency Oregon Climate Change Adaptation Framework, prepared by 24 state agencies and organized around three guiding principles:

• Embrace flexibility in the face of climate change uncertainty.
• Recognize climate change as a 'stress multiplier' that exacerbates existing political, economic, social, and environmental tensions.
• Acknowledge climate change impacts are unequal, requiring agencies to tailor investments to redress inequities.

In 2007, Governor Kulongoski established the Oregon Global Warming Commission (renamed the Oregon Climate Action Commission in 2023). In 2023, it published the Roadmap to 2030, consisting of the Roadmap Commission Recommendations and the TIGHGER Project Report, which found Oregon is on track to meet its goal of 45% below 1990 levels by 2035. The Commission’s 2024 report reinforced these findings and recommended updating emissions goals.

Oregon’s policy milestones include:

• Renewable Portfolio Standard (2007): Adjusted in 2016 to require 50% renewable-sourced generation by 2040.
• Clean Energy Standard (2021): Mandates electric utilities cut emissions by 80% by 2030, 90% by 2035, and 100% by 2040. When signed by Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon became the 8th state to adopt a 100% clean energy goal according to the NCSL.
• Climate Protection Program (2021): Developed by the DEQ to cap fossil fuel emissions. Following a temporary 2023 legal invalidation, it was re-adopted in November 2024 for a January 2025 launch, aiming to cut covered emissions by 50% by 2035 and 90% by 2050.
• Oregon Transportation Plan (2023): Released by ODOT alongside a website tracking transportation emissions reduction efforts.
• Priority Climate Action Plan (2024): Released for the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program to secure short-term reductions across transportation, buildings, and waste management. Oregon received $197 million in funding.
• Climate Change Education Law (June 2025): Signed by Gov. Kotek, directing schools to include climate science across multiple subjects.
• Climate Resilience Investment Act (September 2025): Directs the state treasury to pursue clean energy investments for the public retirement fund. The Treasury's 2026 report Tracking Net Zero and Climate-Positive Investment Strategies found climate-positive investments doubled between 2022 and 2025.
• Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (2026): Released under Phase 2 of the EPA grant program as the state's most comprehensive emissions plan. It was paired in September 2026 with Gov. Kotek's Plan for a Resilient Oregon focused on statewide disaster readiness.
• PacWave South Opening (August 2026): Developed by Oregon State University in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, this facility officially opened on August 27, 2026, off the coast of Newport. After more than a decade of planning and navigating regulatory permitting delays, it now serves as the nation's first fully operational, pre-permitted, and grid-connected open-ocean wave energy test site.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE 

Oregon’s environmental justice framework began expanding with Senate Bill 420 in 2008, which created the Environmental Justice Task Force. This foundation was updated in 2022 when the legislature passed HB 4077, renaming the body to the Environmental Justice Council and establishing it within the Governor's office to oversee a new statewide environmental justice mapping tool. Throughout 2026, the Council finalized indicator frameworks across Statewide, Coastal, Remote, and Rural indices, setting a path for full tool implementation by the end of 2027.

Grassroots and alliance efforts driving the movement include:

• The Coalition of Communities of Color: This Portland-based alliance works to mitigate disproportionate pollution exposure and health inequities. Made up of advocacy groups like Verde, APANO, and the Native American Youth and Family Center, its initiatives center frontline leadership.
• The Oregon Water Justice Framework: Led by the Oregon Water Futures Collaborative alongside the Coalition, this program maps and centers Indigenous Water Justice Leadership to reform water justice statewide.
• The Portland Clean Energy Fund (2018): Championed by the Coalition, this passed as the first community-powered climate justice fund in the nation.
• The Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity Campaign: This historic campaign led to the successful passage of three foundational environmental justice bills during the 2021 Oregon legislative session.

COLLABORATION WITH OTHER STATES 

Oregon is one of 24 states and territories participating in the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Oregon also collaborates with Washington, California, and British Columbia, Canada on the West Coast Electric Highway, an extensive network of public electric vehicle fast-charging stations located every 25 to 50 miles along Interstate 5 and other major roadways.

The state also coordinates with regional neighbors through several other major agreements:

• The Pacific Coast Collaborative (2008): Partnering with California, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia to accelerate investments in a low-carbon economy, build climate resilience, and fight ocean acidification.
• The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association: Partnering with Washington, Montana, and Tribal Nations to build a regional clean hydrogen hub backed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
• The Western Transmission Expansion Coalition: Partnering with Western states, utilities, and Tribes to design an integrated electricity grid that improves reliability and connects expanding renewable energy projects across state lines.