Environmental group asks EPAto impose stricter limits
The group says proposed
pollution limits could have
saved at least 3,000 lives
JOHN HEILPRIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON — If the govern
ment required deeper cuts in air
pollution from power plants, at least
3.000 lives would be saved and
140.000 children would avoid
asthma and other respiratory
ailments, an environmental group
said Tuesday.
Environmental Defense, a New
York-based group, urged the
Environmental Protection Agency
to require more pollution reduc
tions than EPA plans to impose
in December.
"The benefits outweigh the costs
by a 20-to-l ratio," said Michael
Shore, a senior air policy analyst for
the group. "This is clearly a great
benefit for society."
Dan Riedinger, a spokesman for
the Edison Electric Institute, a utility
trade group, said complying with
EPA's new rule will lead to "a very sub
stantial reduction (in pollution) on
top of the cuts we've already made" —
40 percent since 1980.
"There are always going to be critics
who say no matter how much we cut,
they want us to do more," he said.
"We think the reductions proposed by
the administration are very aggressive
but workable in the long run, so we
would question the need to go much
further than that."
Soot and smog from power plants are
blamed for pollution that causes respi
ratory problems that lead to thousands
of deaths each year. The very young and
old are most susceptible
The EPA plans to require power
plants to gradually cut acid rain-caus
ing sulfur dioxide and smog-causing
nitrogen oxide. It's expected that busi
nesses will spend S48 billion to com
ply with the changes, which are to be
fully implemented by 2015.
EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt
has said the changes would reduce
sulfur pollution nearly 70 percent
and the smog-causing chemical 40
percent. It's estimated those changes
will save 13,000 lives and lead to
860,000 fewer asthma and respirato
ry cases in children.
Leavitt said Tuesday he is "commit
ted to accelerating the progress of
cleaning the air" and considers the
proposal for power plants aggressive.
"States have been battling trans
ported pollution for too long, and
we are committed to providing a so
lution," he said.
Environmental Defense described
the EPA's plans as a step forward but
urged the agency to require industry
to invest a minimum of up to 50 per
cent more, or a total of $72 billion.
Such an investment, the group said,
would save 3,000 more lives and
shield 140,000 more children from
respiratory ailments.
The group used EPA's method to
calculate the costs and benefits. It is
based on an economic model that
compares the cost of reducing each
ton of pollution with how much pol
lution there is. Then that cost is com
pared to the health benefits from
cleaning the air.
John Heilprin is a writer
for the Associated Press.
High court ruling to have enormous' impact on Oregon
A Supreme Court ruling
on sentencing guidelines
spawns 'uncertainty'
PORTLAND — A U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that “enhanced" sen
tences must be decided by juries, not
judges, has prosecutors scrambling
to reindict some defendants while
other sentences are delayed until the
ruling is clarified this fall.
The court ruled that facts
supporting sentences that have been
lengthened because of aggravating
circumstances have to be decided by
juries, not judges.
The case, Blakely vs. Washington,
dealt with Washington's sentencing
guidelines. But because they mirror
federal sentencing guidelines as well
as those in nine other states — in
cluding Oregon — the ruling has
created widespread confusion on
how to proceed.
"There is a lot of uncertainty right
now all over the country," Barry
Sheldahl, first assistant U.S. attorney
for Oregon, told The Oregonian.
"Every sentence we do may or may
not be right. Everyone feels the same
uncertainty — judges, defense
lawyers and prosecutors."
In state court, Salem defense
lawyer Jesse Barton, who has written
manuals about the state sentencing
system, said the implications for
Oregon are 'absolutely enormous."
"There are hundreds of guys in
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prison right now doing unconstitu
tional sentences under Blakely —
hundreds, maybe thousands,"
Barton said.
Although Blakely is not likely to
have a significant impact on the
most serious crimes, such as the vio
lent person-to-person offenses that
fall under Measure 11, state prosecu
tors said it may impact the way seri
ous property crimes are handled.
In federal court in Portland, prose
cutors are reindicting some defen
dants in cases in which they plan to
ask for longer sentences because of
the facts of the case.
In a bank robbery case, for exam
ple, the indictment might include
whether the defendant used a gun,
how much money was stolen and
whether the victim was restrained —
facts that might be used by prosecu
tors during sentencing to ask for a
stiffer penalty.
So far, federal prosecutors have
asked for juries to be impaneled to
decide the sentencing in three cases.
But impaneling juries for sentenc
ings is more time-consuming and
complicated, according to defense
lawyers and prosecutors. Sentencings
would resemble trials, with juries re
viewing evidence and hearing argu
ments from both sides.
Federal sentencings before juries
must be unanimous and require the
"beyond a reasonable doubt" stan
dard of proof. Judges, however, can
use any relevant evidence that they
consider trustworthy and reliable,
Barton said.
Across the country, federal appel
late courts are translating the high
court's ruling in contradictory ways.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, which includes Oregon,
said Blakely renders portions of
the federal sentencing guidelines
unconstitutional.
Jeffrey L. Fisher, the Seattle lawyer
who won the Blakely case before the
U.S. Supreme Court, predicts that
Blakely's impact will be softened
once states amend sentencing proce
dures over the next year or so.
One option would be to adopt
the Kansas model, where juries
already decide criminal cases in two
phases — first deciding guilt and
then, in a second phase, whether
a sentence should be enhanced,
Fisher said in a July interview with
The Oregonian.
"Once these fixes happen, (Blakely
is) not a case that people will talk
about every day," he said, though he
noted that for the interim some de
fendants may receive lighter sen
tences than prosecutors desire. "The
good news is that it doesn't destroy
the guidelines system."
Earlier this month, the Supreme
Court said it would clarify this fall
whether Blakely applies to the feder
al sentencing guidelines.
On Oct. 4, the first day of its new
term, the court will hear two cases,
one out of Maine and the other out
of Wisconsin, that deal with the
guidelines.
Douglas A. Berman, a law profes
sor at Ohio State University and an
expert in federal sentencing law, said
that until then, federal sentencings
that have been handed down since
the June ruling may be in doubt and
ripe for appeal.
"I think any defendant and de
fense attorney who is unhappy with
what happens during this period of
uncertainty will certainly be entitled
to walk into court and say, 'I'm enti
tled to a do-over,"' he said. "Whether
they get a do-over is a separate ques
tion, but they will certainly have a leg
to stand on."
NEWS BRIEF
Portland closes dog park,
citing suspicious meat
PORTLAND — An off-leash
park for dogs has been closed after
park workers discovered dead chick
ens and chunks of meat hidden in
the bushes.
Last summer, at least a dozen Port
land dogs died after they ate what
veterinarians believe was poisoned
meat left at Laurelhurst Park, and
park officials told reporters Tuesday
they were worried about a possible
copy-cat.
The meat found this week at
Willamette Park in Southwest Port
land was sent to a laboratory for test
ing and the situation is being inves
tigated by Multnomah County
Animal Services, Portland park
spokeswoman Sarah Bott.
"It's very similar (to last year), and
so we're going to take it very serious
ly and clearly someone has made a
statement.-So we'll collect it as evi
dence and have the meat analyzed
and we'll see what we come back
with," said Mike Klein with Mult
nomah County Animal Control.
John Rowton, shelter manager at
Multnomah County Animal Con
trol, said he did not know of any
dogs or other animals being sickened
from eating meat at the park.
On Monday, park maintenance
workers said they discovered 20
pounds of sausage and hamburger
products scattered in the off-leash
area. On Tuesday, they found several
whole fryers in the park.
— Associated Press
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