Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is making sure state lawmakers will have a lot on their plates next year.

The Governor is pushing comprehensive climate change and transportation packages.

Kulongoski talked about those priorities -- including a push for electric cars -- in a Portland appearance Wednesday. Andrew Theen reports. 

Kulongoski spoke to a crowd of business, transportation and politicos at an invitation only conference.

He said  Oregonians "must change the way they think and live."  The governor thinks Oregonians are already prepared for dramatic changes, but they need leadership.

Ted Kulongoski: "What they're looking for is some certainty about what you want them to do, and that's what we have to do is tell them what that is."

Kulongoski's "transportation vision committee" has some recommendations. One is accelerating investment in hybrid electric cars and full-blown electric vehicles.

Ted Kulongoski: "I don't think it's an issue of the technology being there.  I think that the issue is, you have to build the infrastructure."

The idea is a statewide network of energy efficient plug-in stations, powered by renewable energy.  Kulongoski said finding a plug-in station would be as easy as finding a gas station. But he admits that's likely years away.

One of the first baby steps  is converting 10 state vehicles to plug-in hybrids. Eventually he'd like to steer state energy tax credits toward plug-in vehicles.

Terry Beyer: "We are going to have to change the way people think."

That's Terry Beyer.  She's a state representative from Springfield and the chair of the House Committee on Transportation.

Beyer said a lot of the dialogue seems Portland-centric to some, and state leaders are aware that different parts of the state have different needs.

Terry Beyer: "You take Baker City or some of these outlining cities, they just want to keep their roads paved.  They don't have this kind of traffic, they don't have these kind of issues.  So if we start looking at a proposal that is so sweeping that it doesn't take those differences into consideration, the public is going to revolt."

Kulongoski said making widespread changes to the transportation network isn't easy or "cost-free." He pointed to the Columbia River Crossing, or CRC.

Ted Kulongoski: "I believe in tolling.  I think it's a method on new projects, I think that the CRC will be tolled.  I think that we're going to look at it in other parts of the state."

Kulongoski said he's open to all ideas, but he said ultimately the state is looking to  save money and reduce carbon emissions in the long term.