Home of Republican Oregon State Senator Who Refused to Vote on Climate Change Bill Burns Down in Wildfires

An Oregon Republican state senator, who refused to vote on a climate change bill had his house destroyed from the unprecedented wildfires that are still raging in parts of the country. Fred Girod, the state senator who is part of the notorious Oregon 11, refused to go to the state Capitol in June, preventing a quorum for a vote on the climate change legislation, The Independent reported.

The bill was an attempt to pass a cap-and-trade proposal, which would set a limit on pollution and aim to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and help to combat climate change in the state, according to Labor411.

The 69-year-old senator told Oregon Live, that “it hurts,” in response to the reaction he received when he went to visit the local area to assess the damage over the weekend as the wildfires raged on.

“My job is to know what’s happening in the district and I need to be able to assess the damage," he told the news station.

Girod assessed the remains of his own home in Mill City, one of the larger towns in the Santiam Canyon, during the impromptu trip on Sunday. He told the Oregonian that his parents had built the home in 1968, a year before he finished high school.

An ash and metal bed frame in what used to be his bedroom and a metal bowl for logs was reported to be the only recognizable items in the ash that once stood Girod's house, which he once described as his "forever home."

His biggest loss from the disaster, he told the Oregonian, were his three beloved cats. "Perhaps the toughest loss for me and my wife to bear," he said.

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