Golden and Gomez on smoke, fire, and climate change.

Jeff Golden: "The smoke was caused by climate chaos."

Jessica Gomez: "Don't let my opponent's language scare you."

The Candidates Forum sponsored by Southern Oregon Climate Action showed that voters in Senate District 3 have policy choices. 

Jeff Golden has long staked out a definable political brand and reputation. He is a progressive, environmentalist Democratic dove, skeptical of the political influence of interest groups, particularly fossil fuel and other business interests. The issue at the Forum was climate change and what to do about it. He said miserable smoke and forest fires are just the latest symptom of a problem that has been growing for decades. He wants to take steps now to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, because the problem has grown urgent. 

Golden yes.  Gomez sort-of maybe.

Jessica Gomez is new to being a Republican and she is fleshing out her political reputation now.  Hers is more complicated. Her campaign signs avoid the word "Republican" but she is running as a Republican. She is Latina in a party whose voters chose a president with an ethno-nationalist message of protecting the US from the demographic and cultural changes brought by immigrants from Latin America. She says she generally agrees with environmentalist goals, but supports Republican positions on how to reach them, which often means opposing Democratic initiatives. She supports reproductive rights but also supports the ballot measure that forbids state funded health programs from paying for abortions. She opposes the construction of the Jordan Cove pipeline, but said she would not want to put pressure on regulators to stop it, which is why she held up both Yes and No signs in response to a question on it. 

Her "yes" and "no" is emblematic of the problem she faces attempting to be a Republican moderate expressing views that reflect her own beliefs. Some will call her "wishy-washy," and some Republicans say she is not really a Republican at all. She nearly lost her primary election. But she may please others who think the GOP has lost the support of the new generation of young, female, environmentally-concerned, pro-choice, business-oriented Republicans, and for them Gomez could be that new, better future.

At the Forum Jeff Golden had a clear message of purpose and urgency. Gomez's message was one of caution.

Golden said we have already delayed too long. "I think a rational society would have started pricing carbon emissions about thirty years ago, about the time Exxon was sending memos describing climate change. . . . The western states have been on fire for months. Australia is on fire." Golden said climate change is causing the hot dry summers that cause our forests to burn up. "We can't take forever to find the perfectly outlined detailed plan."  

Climate and forest policy, both.

At the Forum Gomez called Golden's words "scary language."  She said she agreed with the audience that the environment "is precious and we need to protect it." She recognizes that many Republicans deny that humans are affecting the climate, but that she "doesn't follow the Party line" on this. She said she wants to support programs when they are "practical and pragmatic," and that she didn't want to see solutions designed to solve problems in a big city but which don't work well when applied to the rural parts of Oregon. 

Following the Monday night Forum, I asked both Golden and Gomez what they thought the differences between them boiled down to.

Golden said the biggest difference was urgency.  He said, "I believe Jessica’s concerned about the smoke, too—she lived in it this summer, she has children she loves.  What I don’t believe is that she would stand up to the fossil fuel industry with legislation that might trim their profits, or by clearly and strongly opposing the Jordan Cove pipeline. What I heard last night was something like 'Yes, I’m concerned, but let’s not rush into legislation that might have flaws...let’s take our time to be sure it’s just right.'"  Golden noted that she received campaign contributions from Chevron, BP, and Tesoro, the very companies in the fossil fuel industry who use their political clout to "crush efforts to make them pay for the impacts" their industry creates on climate.

Gomez said to me that the issue was one of practicality. "Jeff is in favor of cap and trade policies. I am not. Cap and trade is really complex and I 'm not confident Oregon can administer this. Moreover, I don't believe it actually accomplishes the goal of meaningful carbon reduction in a national or worldwide scale. It's a lot of bother for not much real benefit. It's a raindrop in an ocean." 

Jessica Gomez and Jeff Golden

The campaign is starting to clarify that voters are not simply choosing between a Democrat and a Republican. There are actual policy choices at stake.

   ***Golden and Gomez differ on the abortion ban initiative, Measure 106. Gomez supports it; Golden opposes it.

   ***Golden and Gomez differ on what to do about the Jordan Cove pipeline through Jackson County. They both oppose it but Golden wants to pursue the opposition with more vigor; she is yes and no.

   ***Golden and Gomez differ on whether to support an Oregon cap and trade measure intended to reduce greenhouse gases. Golden says yes, we need to get moving on this. Gomez says not-so-fast.