Reduce, Reuse, Recycle In the News

SALEM - The Senate's overwhelming approval Thursday of a package of incentives to increase the production and use of biofuels marked a clean sweep of accomplishments on environmental and energy policy.

The 24-3 vote all but capped a legislative session that has seen the passage of bills to expand recycling, increase production of green power, and restrict the potential development of farm and forest land.

And after years of playing defense, environmental lobbyists say they're wrapping up a session that they hope Oregonians will appreciate for its accomplishments on behalf of a cleaner environment and a transition away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

"Oregon has made more progress on the environment and moving toward energy independence in the past six months than any time in the last 30 years," said Jeremiah Baumann, lobbyist for Environment Oregon.

He and other environmental advocates are quick to credit Gov. Ted Kulongoski and his staff for bringing to the Legislature and getting enacted most of the pieces of their green agenda.

Praise for Kulongoski from environmentalists is a new phenomenon, considering the ragged relationship they've had in the past.

"After last session, needless to say, there were hard feelings between the environmental community and myself," Kulongoski said. He said a meeting he had with environmental leaders going into his re-election campaign last year helped restore their relationship. Kulongoski stepped up efforts to consult with them about staff positions and his legislative agenda.

The governor was quick to point out that getting an environmentally friendly agenda through the Legislature largely came down to simple numbers.

"I have to tell you, 31 votes doesn't hurt. That's the reality of it," he said, referring to the number of votes owned by Democrats in the 60-member House. Democrats also retained their majority in the Senate.

But most of the environmental movement's bills have passed with broad support.

Rep. Chuck Burley, R-Bend, said fellow Republicans and industry groups made the most of their chances to work with their counterparts on bills that lacked such broad support in their original forms. He cited the so-called "mixing zones" bill, which deals with stretches of the Willamette River where industrial and municipal discharges concentrate heavy metals and other toxins. The original bill, which proposed to restrict these discharges, "would have been a huge, knock-down, drag-out fight," Burley said. But the version worked out and expected to be voted on soon in the Senate is likely to draw bipartisan support because it calls for additional input from a broad array of groups before any regulations are proposed.

"It was a very rational and well thought-out approach," said Burley, who works as a timber industry consultant.

Sybil Ackerman, a lobbyist with the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, also coordinated the coalition of several environmental groups - the Oregon Conservation Network.

She said the network brought forward an agenda that all involved could agree to - which meant more controversial issues didn't make it, but it had broader appeal with legislators. That meant staying largely out of the debates around restricting pesticide use and banning agricultural field burning and leaving off its agenda issues such as forest conservation and wildlife protection.

This may not have been the agenda Oregon's most ardent environmental warriors would have liked, but it's one that gives the movement the best chance to carry momentum into future legislative sessions, Ackerman said.

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, said the Legislature's environmental actions will strike voters as dubious, once the reality of their effects on everyday life sets in. He cited the bill mandating that Oregon's largest utilities get 25 percent of their energy from wind, solar, wave and other renewable sources by 2025. Given the relatively high cost of electricity from these sources, Ferrioli said the "25 by '25 slogan" behind that bill isn't the one Oregonians will think of when the law is being implemented.

"Here's the bottom line: what we should be telling people is that you're going to have to pay 25 percent more by 2010," he said.

GOING GREEN
The Legislature's biggest environmental accomplishments this session, with the House and Senate votes in parentheses.
Biofuels: Producers of crops that can be used to make ethanol and biodiesel get tax breaks and incentives. Consumers who use fuel blends with a high percentage of biodiesel or ethanol also get tax credits. (H: 53-4; S: 23-3)
Renewable energy: Oregon's two investor-owned utilities and the Eugene Water & Electric Board must meet targets for the percentage of energy derived from renewable resources. (H: 41-18; S: 20-10)
E-waste: Industry-financed recycling programs will allow consumers to get rid of old TVs and computers for free - while keeping toxic metals out of the groundwater. (H: 58-0; S: 30-0)
Bottle Bill II: Water bottles will join in the program that requires a nickel deposit. More sweeping changes will be pursued by a task force for the 2009 Legislature. (H: 42-16; S: 23-7)