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Environmentalists credit new Democratic leadership

BY AARON CLARK
The Associated Press

From the high-profile rewrite of the nation's first bottle-deposit law to more below-the-radar efforts to increase the budget for agencies that track pollution, many lawmakers say this is the most important environmental legislative session for Oregon in decades.

Environmentalists credit the new Democratic leadership at the Capitol for an eco-friendly agenda. But Republicans -- who are increasingly supporting previously spurned green issues -- say this session's proposals strike a balance between conservation and economics.

"It's so amazingly different, I can't tell you the difference," said Sybil Ackerman, chief lobbyist for the Oregon League of Conservation Voters who has worked in Oregon for 10 years on environmental issues. "Now all the doors are open, I'm in a position where all of our priorities are probably going to have bills that have passed this session."

Some of the most important changes, supporters say, are likely to come through budgetary increases to agencies that were gutted following a deep recession that gripped the state beginning in 2001, forcing many agencies to cut staff.

The 2007-09 budget allocation from the general fund for the Department of Environmental Quality -- the agency responsible for monitoring and enforcing air and water quality standards across the state -- is likely to increase from the $22.7 million it got two years ago to $37.9 million, a 67 percent increase.

Though the general fund accounts for just 12.7 percent of department's overall budget -- other money comes from the lottery and the federal government -- the increase is significant.

Lauri Aunan, administrator for the department's water quality division, said she could add 41 staff positions under the budget increase which will be spread across several divisions. Those workers would do things like investigate public complaints about pollution stemming from construction and industrial sites and speed up the permit process for contractors.

"The positions coming on board are really critical to doing core work," said Aunan.

Though many of the newer, environmentally savvy bills have grabbed the attention of both Wall Street investors and lawmakers -- a biofuels package that provides tax breaks and incentives for farmers to produce ethanol and biodiesel passed unanimously in the House a few weeks ago -- a rejuvenated but less visible effort to clean up the Willamette River is also widely supported.

The proposal requires the department to work with municipalities to identify and eventually reduce toxins released into the Willamette through waste treatment discharges.

One reason for the increased support of environmental bills this session is a move toward carrots rather than sticks; many rely on market-friendly incentives rather than increased regulation and more stringent standards.

"Pollution control has really shifted from the old point source model to how we live our lives day to day," said John Ledger, a lobbyist for Associated Oregon Industries.

Using mechanisms that reward consumers and businesses for greener behavior rather than bills that force industry to eliminate contaminants released into waste streams has also soothed tensions.

"We don't seem to have as much head-butting as we used too," said Ledger.

GOP leaders say many of the measures they are voting for this session are more attractive than past ones because they marry environmental concerns with free-market principles.

"They don't need to be in conflict," said Bruun.

Environmentalists say the bill that could have the biggest impact on the state is a proposal requiring electronic manufacturers to pay for recycling and disposing of obsolete computers, monitors and televisions.

Because manufacturers are forced to internalize the cost of recycling used machines the proposal provides an economic incentive that will drive innovation toward more efficient resource use, making product disposal cheaper and easier, supporters said.

But perhaps the Legislature's most notable environmental achievement this session is the approval of one of the most aggressive renewable energy mandates in the country. Under the bill, the state's largest electric utilities will be required to draw 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources like the sun, waves or woody biomass by 2025.

Despite some opposition the bill passed the House 41-18, with strong bipartisan support.

"We're not seeing party-line votes," said Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, D-Portland, who as chair of the powerful House Energy and the Environment committee has shepherded many of the environmental measures through the Legislature.

The bottle bill -- another top-shelf and highly publicized priority for lawmakers -- passed the House on Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ted Kulongoski soon.

Lawmakers shied away from a proposed doubling of the 5-cent deposit but the addition of water bottles as recyclable containers was a victory that will keep millions of containers out of landfills, supporters said.

"We've been trying to update this bill for the last 36 years," said Jeremiah Baumann, a spokesman for Environment Oregon.