Editorial

Color Oregon green

Oregon has no official state color, but the recently completed 2007 legislative session suggests green - a very deep shade of green - would be appropriate.

Not since the era of former Gov. Tom McCall three decades ago has the Legislature produced such an impressive roster of environmental legislation.

Topping the list was passage of a renewable energy standard that should reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming and help make Oregon a leader in clean energy technologies ranging from solar power to wave energy.

The product of years of tough negotiations and compromise, Senate Bill 838 will require the state's three largest utilities - Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and the Eugene Water & Electric Board - to obtain 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

In a last-minute concession, lawmakers regrettably dropped a requirement that medium-sized utilities meet the ``25 by '25'' requirement. Instead they'll be required to generate only 10 percent of their power from renewable resources. The change was unnecessary. The 25 percent mandate would not have imposed unworkable hardships on medium-sized utilities such as the Springfield Utility Board. But even with this compromise, Oregon will still have one of the most rigorous renewable energy standards in the nation.

Notable green legislative accomplishments also include:

• A rewrite of the retrograde Measure 37 property rights law. The bill, which will appear on next fall's ballot as Measure 49, is a huge improvement over the original, and it gives voters a chance to turn Measure 37 into the law they thought they were getting in the first place - one intended to ensure that the little guy gets a fair break from the state's land use system. While it can be argued that lawmakers should have found a way to make these critical fixes themselves, the decision to put them on the ballot was a make-or-break compromise. It also shows proper deference to the voters who approved Measure 37.

• A long-overdue update of the state's landmark Bottle Bill. Lawmakers expanded the law to require a 5 cent deposit on plastic water bottles. While many, including this newspaper, hoped for a more ambitious expansion, including an increase in the 5-cent deposit, the change should double the recycling rate for empty water bottles. The legislation also creates a task force that will examine ways of improving the bill in the future, offering hope that the next expansion will not be 36 years in coming.

• Legislation requiring that all gasoline sold in Oregon eventually include 10 percent ethanol. Senate Bill 2210 also creates tax incentives for companies that turn agricultural and forest materials into biofuels for vehicles. Combined with the state's existing business energy tax credit, the new legislation gives Oregon one of the nation's most ambitious incentive packages for development of alternative fuels.

• Passage of the Climate Change Integration Act, which sets a lofty goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon to levels that are at least 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The bill also establishes a permanent commission that will advise the Legislature on climate change-related policies, and develop programs that help the state's businesses and residents reduce greenhouse emissions.

• A 12.4 percent increase in the budget of the state Department of Environmental Quality. With all the fanfare over other green legislation, this move received scant attention. But its importance is both practical and symbolic. After years of cutbacks, the agency will finally be able to hire the additional employees needed to monitor water and air pollution across the state.

Other legislation included a moratorium on drilling for oil, gas or sulfur off the Oregon Coast; a new program requiring manufacturers to provide free recycling for computers and televisions, and authorization of a DEQ study to identify toxins in the Willamette River and develop a plan to reduce those that pose the greatest risks.

It's a remarkable list, made possible by Democratic control of the House, Senate and governor's office - and, just as importantly, focused leadership from Gov. Ted Kulongoski, whose failure to champion environmental causes in the 2005 session rankled many conservationists.

The governor and Legislature must now find a way to carry this momentum over to future sessions. After years of legislative neglect, much remains to be done on the environmental front.

The No. 1 priority should remain dealing with climate change and working with other Western states to fill the void in federal leadership on the most critical environmental issue of our time. The next challenge should be to establish statewide or regional caps on greenhouse emissions, preferably as part of a market-based "cap-and-trade" system.

Another big challenge will be modernizing the state's decades-old land use program. Pressure to update the system may ease if voters approve the proposed rewrite of Measure 37 next fall, but the expected arrival of a million new Oregonians by 2030 makes a comprehensive update a necessity.

The Legislature should also establish marine reserves along the Oregon Coast to boost the recovery of dwindling fisheries and put in place a long-range program to clean up the Willamette River.

After a session of extraordinary environmental accomplishments, the Legislature should take a well-deserved bow - and then start preparing for the next session.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/07/10/printable/ed.edit.greensession.phn.0710.7x1XV6Bb.phtml?section=opinion