Originally published on May 10, 2021 4:55 am In 2019 and again in 2020, Oregon Republicans walked out of the state Legislature to prevent a vote on cap-and-trade climate bills. The legislation was meant to drive down the state’s carbon emissions, but Republicans feared the bills would place the greatest burden of higher fuel prices on sparsely populated rural communities. In 2008, the center-right party in British Columbia, actually named the Liberal Party, created a carbon tax to reduce emissions. More than a decade later, it has helped lower emissions without disproportionately hurting rural B.C. residents. This year, climate legislation remains a tense topic of debate in Pacific Northwest politics. Why has a carbon pricing program worked in British Columbia but not in Oregon?