Hurst v. Rosenblum

The Oregon Supreme Court agreed with a petitioner that the Attorney General should modify the text of a ballot title that, if adopted by voters, would amend an Oregon statute to require that greenhouse gas emissions from industry and fossil fuel sources be reduced by 100% below 1990 levels by 2050. The current statute provides for an aspirational goal of reducing emissions by 75% below 1990 levels by 2050 and does not create additional regulatory authority for state agencies. The ballot title, on the other hand, would require both adoption of rules to achieve the emissions reduction target as well as enforcement of those rules. The Supreme Court said that due to the placement of a comma, the caption and the “yes” result statement could potentially be misread as requiring elimination of fossil fuels by 2050; the court also said the summary and potentially the caption should be modified to clarify that the mandated greenhouse gas phase-out would occur in two steps.