Meet Greg Macpherson (Candidate for Oregon Attorney General endorsed by OLCV)

Last year it was my duty and my privilege to lead the legislative work on Measure 49. Our landscape was threatened by uncontrolled development on 7,500 claims filed by property owners under Measure 37. To prevent irreparable harm, I fought to refer limitations on development to the voters. It was a great day for Oregon when Measure 49 passed by a wide margin.

I’m now running for Attorney General to make sure Measure 49 is implemented as voters intended and to provide strong advocacy for other environmental protections. In the 2007 legislative session, I was one of only eight House members to receive a 100% rating on the OLCV’s Environmental scorecard. As Attorney General, I will continue to protect what makes Oregon such a special place.

Environmental enforcement has been weak in Oregon for many years. As Attorney General, I will vigorously pursue more resources for the environmental enforcement work of the Department of Justice and for the natural resource agencies who share responsibility for that work. I will bring new energy to this enforcement work, drawing on my experience as an Oregon lawyer and lawmaker.

One of the greatest threats we face is not local, but global: climate change. Oregon has been a leader in many policy areas, including deposit-return beverage bottles, end-of-life decisions, and the eradication of meth manufacturing.  In that tradition, I will use all the power and stature of the office of Attorney General to make Oregon a leader in the international movement to combat climate change. Oregon has already acted  to reduce our carbon footprint. I will enforce the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that requires a shift to renewable energy sources for Oregon’s electricity and  advocate for further actions to combat global warming. This effort presents the greatest moral challenge of our time.

To learn more about me, visit my website at www.votemac.com.

 

Rep. Greg Macpherson

Comments

[Ryan]

How come Macpherson refuses to take a stand on LNG?

[Chuck]

Why is Macpherson running such misleading advertisements against John Kroger? Is the polling so close that he had to go negative? I also wonder why OLCV chose to endorse Macpherson over Kroger, the candidate who is promising to prosecute scofflaw polluters, while Macpherson claims that this isn't under the A.G.'s purview. It is frustrating when OLCV represents itself as speaking for environmentalists and then doesn't give a complete picture of the choice in an important race like this.

[Boo Boo]

I'm not connect with either candidate,s campaign. For the life of me, I can't understand WHY OLCV endorsed Macpherson? Can I read his and Kroger's completed questionnaires on your site?

[Sunnyside]

I don't agree with OLCV on all their picks, but this one I think is SOLID. I worked alongside Greg and many others on Measure 49 this last fall and his dedication in putting the measure together and then working himself to ensure that it passed was admirable. The fact that Kroger has been able to make outstanding claims that are just going to disappoint voters is unfortunate - I'm glad Greg is staying honest and keeping in line with what he is working for.

[not amused]

I'm not excited by Macpherson's reliance on polluter and timber industry money to win this election. That's really telling. His largest donors are timber companies who would have supported the Republican in the race if there was one.

I appreciated Macpherson in the legislature, but we need someone with more vision and spine in the Attorney General's office. I'm going with Kroger.

And I feel some of Macpherson's claims that he'll work on the environment are a little hollow. Enforce Measure 49? huh? How exactly? And don't forget the loophole that Macpherson wrote into 49 that protects the timber industry from new regulations they would consider a 'takings.' This was a huge giveaway and it was seen as 'necessary evil,' though many questioned whether it was in fact necessary. Perhaps it had more to do with the money Macpherson's taken from the Oregon Forest Industries Council, who he negotiated that loophole with.

And Macphereson pledging to 'enforce' the renewable portfolio standard? again, huh? There's nothing to 'enforce' until 2025, and even then the bill didn't spell out any penalties for non-compliance if I'm not mistaken. I don't know if any Attorney General over the next 4-8 years can do anything to 'enforce' the RPS. Am I missing something?

This stuff just sounds hollow and is a way for Macpherson to distract from the fact that he doesn't want to pursue polluters and other environmental violators with laws we already have on the books like Kroger will.

Sorry OLCV, not with you on this one.

[ben rivers]

I think this is a great endorsement. We all know what would have happened to this state if Measure 49 didn't pass. We have to thank Greg for not only crafting the measure but campaigning himself to ensure it passed.

As for environmental enforcement, Kroger scares me because he talks about criminal prosecution right out of the box. How is this productive? In an age of us v. them we need to work together to make things happen.

Greg has been a leader in working across the aisle to make things happen in the legislature and will no doubt continue this track record as AG.

[Milan]

I volunteered a significant amount of my personal time to Measure 49 and got to witness Greg's grassroots efforts working to get it passed. He would come straight from work, Salem or Portland, on weekdays and weekends, just to knock on doors. Measure 49 wasn't perfect, no legislature is, but we all understand the ramifications if it didn't pass and few people worked harder to get it passed than Greg.
It's easy to attack someone's record when you don't have one. Has John held office? I don't think he has and therefore he has no trackrecord to attack or stand on. I realize both candidates would be solid, it's a nice problem to have, but my vote is with Greg.

[Evan]

mac is a horrible pick. he does not have a real plan for oregon's environment. instead, he relies upon a few votes in the house and decides to attack kroger. Kroger is calling for environmental attorneys at the DOJ? gmac attack can not even muster the courage to denounce LNG in oregon. gee, does your law firm have connections to another energy group, just like it did to Enron? sierra club got this one right.

[Jonathan Poisner]

I appreciate the passion that this race has aroused.

OLCV's process involves a backwards look at a candidate's record and a forward look at a candidate's plans. We use a questionnaire and interview.

We came away having no doubt Kroger would be a good Attorney General. But on balance, we felt that Macpherson made the stronger case.

Macpherson has an extensive public record working on the environment that pre-dates his time in the Legislature. He earned a 97% average rating in the Legislature. And he was a leader on important priorities of the environmental community.

Kroger was unable to point to a single thing he's done in the past on the issue, even some non-public activity.

Forward thinking, they both have plans to strengthen environmental enforcement. Kroger tells the public that Macpherson doesn't. But Kroger is wrong. In the end, we think Macpherson will beef up enforcement and he's more likely to successfully get the Legislature to allocate the money actually needed in the agencies to do the enforcement.

[Amy Tutimer]

I think OLCV did the right thing. Greg Macpherson is the right guy at the right time.

I voted for Greg because I think he'll get more done, not only in the immediate future but in the long-term as well.

[Rachael]

OLCV has sold out. I will not renew my membership this year after learning of OLCV's endorsement of Greg Macpherson over John Kroger. Greg's own website Votemac.com says it best, he himself personally has never worked for Enron, or Northern Star but his firm Stoel Rives has. That's like saying, I didn't make the cake, I just ate it. His support of measure 49, a bill that while necessary to alleviate measure 37 is still one of the weakest land-use laws in the country does not impress me. Every democrat worked hard for measure 49. I am deeply disappointed in OLCV this election.

http://www.votemac.com/
"Greg, himself, has never done any work for PGE or Enron. It is true that Greg's firm Stoel Rives represented PGE an Enron subsidiary."

"Greg, himself, has never done any work for NorthernStar. It is true that Greg's firm Stoel Rives represents NorthernStar."

[Shelley Ledbetter]

But where does Macpherson stand on M11 now? I've reviewed articles and comments from both Macpherson and Kroger dated in 2007, but I was ultimately unable to determine where he stands.

In 20 years of working with the court system in Oregon as a transcriptionist, I've heard Judges comment multiple times that their "hands are tied," and this is said with regret in their voices. And, of course, there is the out-of-control issue concerning prosecution of young men/women (often as a result of unsubstantiated claims and no proffered evidence - DNA, rape kit, and so on) for sex crimes due to the underage-relationship situations that are so prevalent in every community. Ridiculous. Does Macpherson have any intention of addressing this?

[Shelley Ledbetter]

But where does Macpherson stand on M11 now? I've reviewed articles and comments from both Macpherson and Kroger dated in 2007, but I was ultimately unable to determine where he stands.

In 20 years of working with the court system in Oregon as a transcriptionist, I've heard Judges comment multiple times that their "hands are tied," and this is said with regret in their voices. And, of course, there is the out-of-control issue concerning prosecution of young men/women (often as a result of unsubstantiated claims and no proffered evidence - DNA, rape kit, and so on) for sex crimes due to the underage-relationship situations that are so prevalent in every community. Ridiculous. Does Macpherson have any intention of addressing this?

[Shelley Ledbetter]

But where does Macpherson stand on M11 now? I've reviewed articles and comments from both Macpherson and Kroger dated in 2007, but I was ultimately unable to determine where he stands.

In 20 years of working with the court system in Oregon as a transcriptionist, I've heard Judges comment multiple times that their "hands are tied," and this is said with regret in their voices. And, of course, there is the out-of-control issue concerning prosecution of young men/women (often as a result of unsubstantiated claims and no proffered evidence - DNA, rape kit, and so on) for sex crimes due to the underage-relationship situations that are so prevalent in every community. Ridiculous. Does Macpherson have any intention of addressing this?

[Shelley Ledbetter]

But where does Macpherson stand on M11 now? I've reviewed articles and comments from both Macpherson and Kroger dated in 2007, but I was ultimately unable to determine where he stands.

In 20 years of working with the court system in Oregon as a transcriptionist, I've heard Judges comment multiple times that their "hands are tied," and this is said with regret in their voices. And, of course, there is the out-of-control issue concerning prosecution of young men/women (often as a result of unsubstantiated claims and no proffered evidence - DNA, rape kit, and so on) for sex crimes due to the underage-relationship situations that are so prevalent in every community. Ridiculous. Does Macpherson have any intention of addressing this?

[John Dunshee]

I'm sure that either candidate would meet the OLCV requirement that he slavishly follow the whims of his intellectual and social betters in the Environmental Lobby.

As for M11. That law was passed to insure that even juveniles who commit violent crimes would not be put back on the streets with a fingershaking and pat on the butt. If the judges feel that their hands were tied it is only because they failed in their duty to the public and have only themselves to blame. Is they're unwilling to do the job, then they have no place whining when the great unwashed masses take matters into their own hands.

However, if you're upset about the thought of young thugs in jail, you can always step in to have them sent to (environmentally friendly, high density) halfway houses in your neighborhood.

Surely you don't expect others to pay the price for your vision?

Oh, wait. You're an environmentalist. Of course you do.