OLCV e-bulletin: Climate solutions, bottle bill, and healthy fish and rivers

Voice your support for a cap on global warming pollution
 
Two weeks ago, many of you took a moment to tell your legislators to support the “Healthy Climate Package.” Thank you! That package includes several bills that would increase energy conservation efforts and encourage investment in clean energy. The king of the package is SB 80, the carbon cap-and-trade proposal. Read about why Oregon must cap carbon now.
 
Unfortunately, utilities and industry are working hard to make sure that they can go on conducting business as usual, at immeasurable cost to Oregon’s economy, environment and future generations. Read about the fight in the Portland Tribune.
 
Now, a new proposal is now on the table that would implement a two-year public process to look at a variety of ways for Oregon to reduce its global warming pollution. But one thing is clear: even if there is further debate about how to reduce global warming pollution, we must commit now to a cap on carbon that declines over time. Such a cap is crucial to trigger the necessary investments in alternative energy. And we don't have two more years to wait to cap global warming pollution.
 
The time is now. Tell your legislator that Oregon must cap global warming pollution now.
 
 
Support the bottle bill: Action needed TODAY
 
Oregon’s landmark bottle bill has done an excellent job helping us recycle important resources such as aluminum, glass and plastic, keeping beverage containers out of landfills, and most importantly, preventing them from littering our roadways, beaches and rivers.

However, in the 38 years since its inception, the bottle bill has lost some of its effectiveness for two main reasons:

• Oregonians drink an increasing amount of beverages not covered by the bottle bill (such as sports drinks, energy drinks and teas).
• The 1971 nickel deposit is worth the equivalent of a penny today and no longer provides incentive to keep containers from being thrown away.

HB 2184 expands the list of covered beverages to include most single serving beverages available today, starting in 2013. HB 2184 also sets a very modest recovery goal for these containers of 80%, and triggers a raise in the deposit to 10 cents in 2016 if we fail to meet that goal.
 
The House will be voting on the bottle bill expansion today or tomorrow. Please tell your legislator to support HB 2184 TODAY!
 
TODAY: Bills to protect rivers and fish
 
OLCV and the Oregon Conservation Network are working to make sure that Oregon’s rivers and fish remain a priority as the demands on Oregon’s water increases. Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources will hear three bills that would ensure proper conservation of Oregon’s waterways and the habitats they provide.
 
SB 740 (OCN Priority), as amended, would establish modest fees ($50 per water right, capped at $300 a year for individuals) to help fund the complicated administration of the more than 85,000 water rights in Oregon. Aside from an initial application fee, those water rights are currently free.
 
SB 788 (OCN Priority) would require proof of adequate protection of rivers and fish before the state could permit any new water storage projects, thus maintaining Oregon’s environment and securing the state’s nearly $800 million a year fishing industry.
 
SB 787 would ensure existing water supplies are being managed responsibly before spending public funds on new water supply projects.
 
Members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources:

• Jackie Dingfelder, Chair (District 23)
• Jason Atkinson, Vice-Chair (District 2)
• Brian Boquist (District 12)
• Mark Hass (District 14)
• Floyd Prozanski (District 4)

If you live in any of these districts, tell your legislator TODAY to pass SB 788.
 
Don’t know who your State Senator is? Find out on the Legislature's website.
 
Visit the WaterWatch website for more information.
 
“Visit, but don’t invade.”
 
Tuesday morning, the House Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Communities Committee heard two Priorities for a Healthy Oregon bills that will significantly address invasive species concerns in Oregon. Invasive species have the potential to cost Oregon, private business, and taxpayers tens of millions of dollars each year if allowed to invade the state.
 

House Bill 2220 would allow for check stations at borders to inspect invasive species carriers like boats and potentially off-road vehicles.
 
House Bill 2020, a partner invasive species bill, establishes a specific fund to promptly respond to invasive species outbreaks.
 
Read the story about the bills in the Eugene Register-Guard.
 
Read more about what happened at the Capitol on the OLCV Blog.
 
The state of Idaho is also tackling invasives, particularly Zebra and Quagga mussels, which attach themselves to boats. The state is looking at options, including wash stations and possibly border stations. Read (or listen to) the story on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

 

Conservation Leagues do the work in Portland

Last weekend, representatives from the more than 30 state conservation voter leagues, along with the national League of Conservation Voters, spent three days strategizing in downtown Portland (and, OK, there was some boogying at Embers, too).
The conservation league movement has grown significantly in the last decade. In the 2008 election, state leagues together endorsed 1,494 candidates for state and local office. 1,263 of them won.
Read the OLCV executive director’s look back to the first state league conference and the twelve years since on the OLCV Blog.

APRIL 24: OLCV's Dinner for the Environment

Last April, nearly 900 of your friends from Oregon’s conservationist, political and sustainable business communities wined, dined and celebrated their commitment to Oregon’s environmental legacy. Join us at the Oregon Convention Center on April 24 for OLCV's Twelfth Annual Dinner for the Environment.
This year, we welcome Keynote Speaker Dan Kammen, Distinguished Professor of Energy at UC Berkeley, and Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center. Kammen is a contributing member to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that earned the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
 
No-host cocktails at 5:30; Dinner at 7pm.
Get more information or purchase tickets.
 

Marion County to host Bill Bradbury

 
Join OLCV-Marion County and the Healthy Climate Partnership for a special presentation on the benefits of taking responsible, immediate action in the fight against global warming vs. the high cost of doing nothing. This event is free.

WHEN: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
 
WHERE: United First Methodist Church, in the Carrier Room, 600 State Street, Salem (down the street from the Capitol)
 
SPEAKERS:
 

Bill Bradbury, Former Secretary of State

Representative Jules Kopel Bailey, Senior Policy Analyst, ECONorthwest

Bob Stacey, Executive Director, 1000 Friends of Oregon

Catherine Thommason, MD, President, Physicians for Social Responsibility
 
Get more information or register for this free event.
 

Rally against the Columbia River Crossing

 
Oppose the big fat bridge? You’re not alone. Voice your opposition to the 12-lane Columbia River Crossing!
 
WHEN: Sunday, April 5 at noon.
 
WHERE: Waterfront Park in Portland
 
Speakers are slated to include former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz and others.
 
Read more about rally plans.

 
Read more about the problems with the bridge.
 
Donor Spotlight: Andy Kerr

“Click here if you believe absolutely nothing I’ve said…” suggests Andy Kerr on the homepage of his website. What you get if you click might stun you at first: It’s defiant. It’s direct. And it’s funny.
That’s Andy Kerr.
A self-proclaimed agitator, foot soldier and schmoozer, among other things, Andy became an OLCV donor around 1980 because he wanted to support the work OLCV does to elect pro-environment candidates. And he plans to go on supporting OLCV, even after he's gone from this world.
“Elections matter,” says Andy, “and OLCV serves a critical and irreplaceable role.”
Read more about Andy and his planned gift to OLCV.
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