This is an excerpt from a podcast and interview I just posted with Oregon State Representative Jules Kopel-Bailey. A young, passionate and pretty brilliant legislator, Representative Bailey is a clean energy and climate champion and recently completed his first full legislative session in Oregon.
While it seems like all eyes are focused on Washington D.C. and the battles raging around Congressional climate and energy legislation, all has been far from quiet on the state front. In the full interview, exclusively at theEnergyCollective.com, I speak with Jules about the Pacific Northwest state’s clean energy leadership and get a recap on the 2009 Legislative Session, including the many clean energy victories, battles, and efforts yet in store in Oregon.
This excerpt seemed particularly relevant to our young readers here…
[Jesse Jenkins]: Jules, you hold what I continue to be a distinguished position, as one of the youngest members of the Oregon House of Representatives, is that right?
[Oregon State Representative, Jules Kopel-Bailey]: Second youngest, yes.
Do you have any particular advice for young Oregonians – or others in other states – who are looking to have an impact on the state political process, really engaging at the grassroots level, or are even thinking about running for office themselves someday?
Well, I’ll support the old Nike slogan and say, Just do it!
I’m speaking here to all the folks who are my age and younger – I first ran for office when I was 27 years old, I was elected about the time I was 28 and I’m now coming out of my first legislative session and I’m 29 – and the reality is that this up and coming generation has as much to contribute as anybody. And whether that means you run for office yourself, or you go down to the Capitol and meet with legislatures and you make your voice heard, or you get involved in an organization that is doing work around political involvement – however you choose to do it, or you political standpoint, make your voice heard and go out there and just do it.
I’d personally recommend that your listeners really think about running for office some day. It is a citizen legislature in Oregon and in many states, and it functions only when the citizenry is involved and is not only taking an interest in an expressing their views, but also steps up and runs for office themselves. There’s always a temptation to think, maybe if I wait a little bit long, get a little bit older. You have an opinion, you have a perspective to bring to the table, and you should step up and do it.
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To change the subject a little bit, with several import terminals proposed on Oregon’s coast,liquefied natural gas has really become a hot button issue in Oregon in recent years. Grassroots opposition is pretty strong and the Oregon Legislature considered legislation this session that would fast track the contentious siting of the pipelines that are needed to bring LNG from coastal terminals to natural gas markets in Oregon’s Willamette Valley cities and even farther, to the big natural gas markets in California, where much of the LNG would ultimately be destined. Can you tell us about this LNG fight and where it now stands?
We had two bills related to [LNG]. We had a bill that I co-sponsored, along with a number of other representatives and senators, that would have put limitations on the ability of the state to site energy facilities [like LNG terminals] and essentially ensure that we are being responsible about how we make our energy investments and whether or not we need LNG in the future. Unfortunately, that bill did not move forward. But the other bill, the bill that you referenced around changing permitting processes for projects that include pipelines, that bill also did not move forward, and I did vote against that legislation on the floor of the House. So that bill was not successful, it did not make it out of the Senate.
So the status of the LNG fight in Oregon is pretty unclear and it’s really up to the grassroots to really get out there and make their voices continually heard. I think they were heard this last session, and [the LNG legislative battles] are the evidence of the impacts grassroots activism can have on local governments. But again, continued vigilance is necessary.
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Well thanks Jules, those are all the questions I have, and I’d like to give you a chance to say any closing remarks if you’d like.
Well Jesse, I really appreciate the chance to be on this show. You and I have had a chance to interact in a number of capacities, and I still remember you speech at our Focus the Nation event in Portland [in January 2008]. And really, I’ve just been inspired by the folks that have been out there and have made their voices heard, through Focus the Nation, through grassroots organization. I think you saw the reaction that our top elected officials got at the Focus the Nation event, and that changed the course of what was going to happen in public policy. So it really is true that the people who are the ones who show and make their voices heard, run for office, come to a town hall, go to your state capitol, talk to your legislators – those are the kinds of people who are going to make a big impact.
