Wind turbines near the Columbia River Gorge in 2009. Photo by Sam Beebe.
Governor Kulongoski and Senator Wyden went to Eastern Oregon today to highlight a pair of big renewable energy projects.
For Kulongoski and Wyden, the day began with a groundbreaking ceremony for ZeaChem, a new biofuels facility in Morrow.
There aren’t many places where renewable energy is as popular as it is here in Oregon.
Three more pieces of the environmental agenda received final passage today and are on their way to Governor Kulongoski. Not a bad day considering the four victories racked up over the weekend. Meanwhile, enviros took a big loss on a renewable energy bill.
So as we used to say in televsion, let’s go right to the highlights.
Field Burning Ban
Those late summer smoky skies over the Willamette Valley should pretty much disapear over the next few years thanks to Senate Bill 528. The bill, passed today by the House, phases out most field burning by 2013. Now it goes to Governor K. The bill exempts about 15,000 acres of hilly terrain.
According to the Department of Environmental Quality, current law allows for about 65,000 acres of field burning, but over the past few years the actual number of acres burned is closer to 50,000. But in the mid 1980s, as many as 250,000 acres were burned each year.
Invasive Species
The final passage of House Bill 2020 means state officials will be able to move faster against outbreaks of invasive species. The bill sets aside $350,000 that can be tapped for such things as rapid response to outbreaks, inspections and eradication of invaders. Today’s approval by the Senate puts this bill into the hands of the Governor.
Coal Burning Power Plants
Senate Bill 101 makes it harder for electric utilities to get power from coal burning power plants. It says the coal burning plants have to meet certain standards for greenhouse gas emissions before utilities can enter into long term contracts for their power. In addition, it says Oregon utilities can’t sign long term contracts with any kind of power plant, unless the plant’s emissions are as clean as ones that run on natural gas. This bill goes to the Governor after getting final passage by the House.
Renewable Energy
This is one area where the environmental agenda has taken some hits, including today’s final passage of House Bill 2940. The bill means utilities won’t have to work so hard to meet Oregon’s Renewable Energy Standard. By law, utilities have to get 25% of their power from renewable sources by the year 2025.
Originally, the law said anything built before 1995 didn’t count towards meeting that standard. But HB 2940 creates an exception for nine older biomass plants that were built before the 1995 deadline. By letting utilities include them as renewable sources, enviros say it makes it too easy to meet the Renewable Energy Standards.
The renewable standard has been credited with helping create the boom in renewable energy projects around the state, especially wind and solar. So if this bill becomes law, the fear is that it will slow the growth of renewable energy and the slow the growth of green jobs in the state.
The Oregon League of Conservation Voters is hoping Governor Kulongoski will veto the bill. One of his spokesman told the Oregonian last week it would be hard for him to support it.
Thanks to Evan Manvel of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters for today’s updates.
Intel is the largest buyer of renewable energy in the country, according to a list released today by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA says Intel purchased more than 1.3 billion kilowatt hours of green power this year, about the same amount of electricity it takes to power 130,000 homes. This is the second year in a row that Intel has topped the EPA’s green power list. Intel gets its renewable energy from wind, which provides about 46% of the company’s energy needs.
Oregon State University ranked high, too. It’s the country’s 49th largest buyer of renewable energy, getting nearly 67 million kilowatt hours of power from biogas, biomass and wind. The school gets 74% of its electricity from green power. OSU students pay about $8.50 in extra fees to help the school buy renewable energy.
Other Oregon institutions fared well on the list, too. Southern Oregon University, Kettle Foods, and the Tualatin Valley Water District are among several Oregon schools, businesses and agencies that purchase 100% of their power from renewable sources.
