Sustainability Law Blog

Governor Ted Kulongoski wants to reduce Oregon's greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020 to 10% less than 1990 levels. He's proposed to do this by making key investments in greenhouse gas reduction, energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy and sustainable transportation. These investments will help stimulate the sustainable economy by creating incentives for companies to manufacture and invest in projects in Oregon. (Read the press release here.)

I applaud the Governor for leading this initiative. As Mark Edlen, Managing Principal at Gerding Edlen, has suggested, it's not just the right thing to do, it's good for business.

But the Governor's proposals ultimately rely on innovation for their success. If you've had a chance to touch the thin film solar panels that Solar Integrated Technologies is installing for PGE (NYSE: POR) on warehouse roofs owned by ProLogis, you know what I mean. Likewise, SolarWorld AG has committed an entire wing of its 480,000 square foot factory in Hillsboro to advanced photo-voltaic research.

Beyond simply leading in sustainable behavior, Oregon must strive to lead in sustainable innovation. It's one thing for Oregonians to choose to install or buy renewable energy or drive a plug-in car, but it's another for Oregon businesses to develop the technology that produces the renewable energy or the battery for the plug-in car.

Continue reading " What About Sustainable Entrepreneurship? " »

The first auction of carbon emission allowances by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the northeastern U.S. generated four times as many bids as there were credits available. This resulted in an initial allowance price of $3.07 per allowance, well above the floor of $1.86 set by RGGI. One allowance is the right to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide.

The funds raised were distributed to several RGGI member states to be spent on energy related needs; for example, Massachussets intends to spend its share on energy efficiency programs to help individuals and cities with winter energy costs. The next RGGI auction is scheduled for December 17.

Additionally, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) recently released its final design proposal for a greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program. The proposal recommends that the first emitters of GHGs to become subject to the program starting in 2012, with other emitters phased in over time. Unlike RGGI, which has opted for region-wide auctions, the WCI leaves it largely to individual states and provinces to decide how to distribute allowances within the state. Check back tomorrow to find out why the WCI proposal penalizes states, like Oregon, that have taken the lead on carbon reductions.

Post authored by David J. Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.

Solar World's new Hillsboro facility produced its first solar cell last week, and at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Governor Kulongoski announced legislation to increase homeowner compensation for putting solar power on the electrical grid. Let the mixed metaphors fly related to Portland's more rosy economic outlook, Oregon's green mindset, and Washington County's sunny business climate. No matter what the catch phrase of the day is, the fact that several solar manufacturers have brought or announced $1.5 billion in capital investment and 2,000 high-wage jobs to Oregon has to be viewed as good news. If Oregon can employ an incentive to stimulate utilization of these solar products here at home, it should increase Oregon's role as a manufacturing leader in this technology.

Mike Slater and Brooks Stanfield, brownfields project officers for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Region 10, recently offered a workshop on strategies for preparing competitive applications for EPA brownfield assessment and cleanup grants. November 14, 2008, is the deadline for the next round of grant applications. Selection and announcements are scheduled for April/May 2009 with grant disbursements likely in October 2009.

A $180,000 cleanup grant to the City of Portland recently helped to clean up petroleum contamination at a former gas station and service center site, and a $200,000 assessment grant enabled Metro to expand its brownfields inventory, prioritize sites and conduct several Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments. Click here for a listing of all grants issued by the EPA to Oregon entities.

EPA assessment grants fund brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments and community outreach. Up to $350,000 per site is available to assess sites with suspected hazardous and/or petroleum contamination. EPA cleanup grants fund cleanup activities at brownfield sites, up to $200,000 per site at a maximum of three sites. Brownfield grants are not available to private parties. Eligible entities include non-profit organizations, general purpose units of local government, land clearance authorities or other quasi-governmental entities, regional council or redevelopment agencies, and states.

Slater and Stanfield reminded workshop participants that community need and community involvement are key components of a successful grant application. EPA’s innovative brownfields grant program pairs local governments with the communities they seek to improve. The program can empower depressed communities not only by stimulating the local economy and reducing threats to human health, but also by promoting discourse and solutions to problems by the stakeholders themselves.

More information about the grants is available here.

Post authored by Jeanette Schuster, attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Practice Groups.

A recent paper published in the October 10 issue of Science by biologists at UC Berkley and Colorado State University confirms predicted impacts of climate warming, without the confounding effects of land-use change, by demonstrating how small mammals at Yosemite National Park in California have coped over the last century with increases in global temperatures. To do this, the biologist resurveyed a broad group of mammals that had been extensively surveyed by biologist Joseph Grinnell from 1914 to 1920. The results of the study showed that low-elevation species expanded their ranges upward, while high-elevation species typically contracted their range elevations. As predicted by climate-change models, the upward movement occurred at a rate of approximately 500 feet for every 3 degree (Celsius) increase in minimum temperatures. The study concluded that the protection of large-scale elevation gradients is key to protecting species diversity in the face of global climate change.

Perhaps there is a lesson here that planners and governments of cities such as Phoenix or Las Vegas, where unsustainable growth has been booming despite consistently hotter and drier seasons, can heed—that is, if the environment cannot support you, a change in behavior is called for. After all, if shrews and mice can adapt to changes in their environment, why can't the most evolved mammal on Earth?

Post authored by Jeanette C. Schuster, attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.

Oregon’s proposed rules for mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting were recently drafted by DEQ in response to a direct request from Governor Ted Kulongoski. The purpose of state-specific mandatory reporting is to provide a better understanding of the GHG sources in Oregon and to generate the data necessary to support the development of emission reduction strategies.

The reporting rules will apply to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N20), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), as well as, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Direct emissions such as those from fuel combustion activities and/or process-related emissions and fugitive emissions will be required, but indirect emissions (i.e., fuel for automobile fleets) will initially be optional under the proposed rules. Oregon’s GHG reduction goals include arresting increasing emissions by 2010, reducing to 10% below 2005 levels by 2020, and reducing to 75% below 1990 levels by 2050. Sources with Title V Air Permits or Air Contaminant Discharge Permits (ACDP) would be required to report 2009 emissions under the new rules beginning in 2010. Beginning in 2011, non-air permitted sources including wastewater treatment plants, landfills, electric generating units, and electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution lines would be required to report 2010 GHG emissions.

DEQ plans to work closely with the Western Climate Initiative and The Climate Registry to ensure consistency with emissions calculation methodologies and reporting protocols. DEQ has approved GHG reporting protocols and emissions calculation tools provided by several other organizations including: WCI; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; California Climate Action Registry; United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Leaders ; and the World Resources Institute.

DEQ originally requested that the Environmental Quality Commission adopt the proposed rules in August 2008. However, the schedule was subsequently extended so, the proposed rules will now be brought before the EQC in October 2008. On another note, the WCI just released its Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program on September 23, 2008 and Essential Requirements of Mandatory Reporting for the WCI, Second Draft on September 30, 2008. Was DEQ’s decision to extend the original August 2008 deadline for adopting the rules related to the much anticipated set of final recommendations from the WCI? Regardless, the public and private sectors are eagerly awaiting news regarding the development of this significant state legislation considering the potential economic and environmental impacts.

Contributed by Integral Consulting Inc., a multi-disciplinary scientific consulting firm based in Mercer Island, Washington with offices in Portland, Oregon, Broomfield, Colorado, Annapolis and Berlin, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts. Scientists at Integral have the expertise to provide facilities with support for both GHG quantification and reporting. Contact Randi Wexler (rwexler@integral-corp.com) or Adam Bonin (abonin@integral-corp.com) in the Portland office (503-284-5545).

The much-heralded Wall Street bailout bill was approved by the House and signed into law by President Bush today as House Resolution 1424. Included within the bill is a one-year extension of the production tax credit for wind energy projects and a six-year extension of the investment tax credit for solar and fuel cell energy projects. Extensions of both credits have been the top federal legislative priority of renewable energy advocates this year. With these extensions, the wind and solar energy industries can carry forward their recent strong growth into 2009 and continue to be two of the few bright spots in our otherwise troubled economy.

Post authored by David Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.