Sustainability Law Blog

Last weekend, Portlanders packed the Oregon Convention Center for the Portland International Auto Show. Many people went to the show to check out the more green automotive alternatives such as the new hybrids, biodiesel and electric cars.

But cars aren't the only traffic out there on the roads. Equally exciting to many of us interested in sustainability will be the Fourth Annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show this February 8-10. Last Fall the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show showcased over 20 Oregon-based builders, and event organizers reported over 1800 people in attendance. The February event will feature over 200 exhibitors from all over North America, including 11 local exhibitors showing off their wares.

The bike industry is flourishing in Oregon. Even Public Radio International's Marketplace recently picked up an OPB story reporting on how Portland's bike culture has set this city up to become "the center of the country's $6 billion-a-year bicycling industry." According to that story, the bike industry employs up to 800 people at about 125 businesses in Portland, and is growing. As more people throughout the nation start commuting by bike on a regular basis, Portland is in a great position to be an industry leader. That's an exciting place to be.

Posted by Kimberlee A. Stafford, attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

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Posted In: Sustainable Products

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At the end of 2007, Tonkon Torp received recognition for its efforts and leadership in sustainability when it won the RecycleWorks award from the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development ("OSD") through "Recycle at Work", a program OSD offers in partnership with Metro.

RecycleWorks awards are presented "to businesses serving as role model[s] for others in the City, reducing, reusing, recycling, making sustainable purchasing choices and going beyond recycling by participating in at least one other sustainable practice". After submitting an extensive application and undergoing an audit by an OSD Business Recycling Specialist, Tonkon earned the distinctive award, which is made from recycled bicycle parts by local business Resource Revival.

To win the RecycleWorks award, Tonkon Torp met numerous criteria in areas including operations, waste prevention, purchasing, and recycling, as well as engaging in at least one activity outside these areas. Having a Sustainability Committee, purchasing 100% recycled content paper for photocopiers and printers, and subsidizing costs for employees who commute by public transportation are some of the efforts that qualified Tonkon Torp to receive the award.

Given this region's long-standing reputation as a leader in sustainability, Tonkon Torp could achieve no greater endorsement than that of the City of Portland and Metro, nor find better company and inspiration than it does in the prestigious group of award-winners.

While receiving the award has been a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the firm's accomplishments, there are more challenges ahead. There is always more to do.

To find out what it takes to be a RecycleWorks business, click here.

Posted by Elizabeth Goodman, paralegal and member of Tonkon Torp's Sustainability Committee.

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In furtherance of efforts to promote Oregon as a hub for wave energy technology R&D, the 2007 Oregon Legislature allocated $4.2 million to support the Oregon Wave Energy Trust, which is tasked with promoting education and outreach around wave energy and to study its potential effect on the marine environment. The Trust recently received the first $1 million installment from the Oregon Innovation Council. According to the Trust, the monies will be used to support education and outreach along the coast, to conduct a whale migration study by Oregon State University's Marine Mammals Institute, and to support wave energy research at OSU.

Posted by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

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Posted In: Renewable Energy

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I just finished reading Cape Wind by Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb. For anyone interested in the challenges facing domestic development of clean, renewable energy, the book is a must-read. Knowing a little bit about the Cape Wind saga before I started the book, I began with a bit of trepidation – the last thing I needed was to raise my blood pressure reading about how the rich and powerful put their own interests above those of the rest of the American people. But as I turned the last page, I was buoyed rather than frustrated. The Cape Wind story ultimately is about how grassroots organization and open-government principles can thwart back-room political deals to benefit the wealthy few. Although no turbine has gone into Nantucket Sound yet, the developer currently plans to start construction in 2010, and the forces opposing the project, while not gone entirely, are substantially weakened.

Many of the Cape Cod yachting set come off poorly in the book, especially Alaska Congressman Don Young, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, and former Massachusetts Governor and current presidential candidate Mitt Romney. While renewable energy advocates don't expect much from Young, the hypocrisy of Kennedy and the blatant pandering of Romney are especially eye-opening. If you are inclined to believe anything Romney is saying on the campaign trail about supporting the fight against global warming, you might not after reading Cape Wind.

Posted by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

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In an editorial on January 2, the Wall Street Journal argues that the phase-out of incandescent light bulbs required by the recent federal energy bill exists only to increase the profit margins of compact fluorescent bulb makers like Philips and GE. As is typical of the WSJ, the editorial advocates letting the marketplace sort out which is the better bulb for the price. The feds are just meddling to force consumers to pay higher costs, says the Journal. As is common with naysayers about climate change, this argument values individual, short-term benefit (a cheaper light bulb) to the exclusion of the greater societal benefit to society (reduction of the risks caused by global warming). By that same rationale, cheap and dangerous toys, lead-based paint and CFC-based aerosol spray cans should all still be available too, but few would dispute that society as a whole is better served by phasing out these products and effectively forcing consumers to buy their slightly more expensive, but more benign, replacements. The incandescent light-bulb should rightly go the way of leaded gasoline and its cohorts, into the dustbin of history.

Posted by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

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Washington and Oregon have joined California and 13 other states in challenging EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson's recent decision to deny California's request to regulate vehicle emissions more strictly than required under the Clean Air Act. The denial was the first issued under the Clean Air Act in 40 years and came against a consensus recommendation of EPA staff to grant the request. The states aren't the only ones questioning Johnson's decision – California Rep. Henry Waxman has called for an investigation of the decision by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the Congressional Research Service thinks that California will win in court. In light of relatively uniform commentary that California has the better case, it is difficult to see why Johnson would deny the request except to appease anti-regulation interests tied to the administration. His position also counters the common Republican mantra of states' rights. Hopefully the states will be successful in court, but even if they are, the cost of victory, in both dollars and time lost, are unfortunate and disheartening.

Posted by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

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Posted In: Legislation

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Oregon's Electronic Recycling Law is beginning to take effect, and companies that manufacture or sell certain electronic products in Oregon should take note of key deadlines for compliance.

Oregon is one of a dozen states beginning to regulate the disposal of covered electronic devices (CEDs) such as computers, monitors and TVs, to keep these hazardous materials out of landfills. Most cell phones, PDAs, and household appliances are exempt from the new law.

The law, HB2626,is being implemented in stages:

• Manufacturers who sell CEDs in Oregon should have registered with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality by December 1, 2007.

• Beginning in July 2008, manufacturers must choose whether to implement their own recycling program or participate in the state's program, which charges fees to manufacturers based on the amount of e-waste they generate in Oregon.

• By January 2009, all e-waste recycling programs must be underway. It will be unlawful for retailers to sell CEDs from manufacturers who are not in compliance with the law.

• By January 2010, it will be against the law to dispose of any CED in a landfill.

For more information about the law, click here.

Posted by Kimberlee A. Stafford, attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate & Land Use Practice Groups.

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Posted In: Legislation

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