Update 2/17: Also check out Gov. Kulongoski’s rebuttal from Saturday’s Oregonian.

On Monday, I pointed to an editorial by The Oregonian which denounced cap and trade because of the possibility of federal action and asked Oregonians to sit idle and wait for a program to come to them. As I pointed out in that post, there are far more reasons to take action now than to wait.

Now, adding to the dialogue is Angus Duncan: (Angus is the president of Bonneville Environmental Foundation and chairman of the Oregon Global Warming Commission). (Emphasis is mine.)

“The [Oregonian] editorial board evidently subscribes to the Obama-as-Superman hypothesis. The president proposes carbon legislation; the Congress instantly and enthusiastically complies…Any national carbon strategy must rely on organized regional support in the West, Northeast and elsewhere to overcome resistance in regions defending the status quo. The president needs the Western Climate Initiative.”

And a few other reasons:

“The best way for Western states to ensure fair treatment in a national cap and trade is to propose a design that works here”
Early action will boost Oregon’s economic future…We should bear in mind the example of Denmark, a country about Oregon’s size, which today owns 1/3 of the global market for wind turbines because Danish tractor companies started building wind turbines and competing for emerging wind business 25 years ago.”