A5 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 Bill: Sawmills would be exempt from the cap Northwest Oregon industries affected by cap and trade 401 Facilities and 2017 emissions, in metric tons 4 101 Wash. (Carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are anthropogenic.) Astoria 1. Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill 92326 Taylorville Road, Clatskanie Emissions 257,824 Knappa Warrenton 30 2. Portland General Electric-Beaver Generating Plant 80997 Kallunki Road, Clatskanie Emissions 1.01 million 202 Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill Ore. ia River umb C ol 1 2 3 Clatskanie 5 Longview Area in detail 4 30 Ore. Rainier Seaside 47 CLATSOP 3. Portland General Electric-Port Westward Unit 2 80997 Kallunki Road, Clatskanie Emissions 104,700 101 Deer Island St. Helens 53 4. United States Gypsum Co. 29073 Dike Road, Rainier Emissions 42,882 Ocean 47 5. Dyno Nobel Inc. 63149 Columbia River Hwy., Deer Island Emissions 198,275 6. Cascades Tissue Group 1300 Kaster Road, St. Helens Emissions 52,141 6 industries. The state’s econ- omy would grow by 2.5 per- cent and add 23,000 jobs by 2050 under the proposed bill, the analysis concluded. Job killer The proposed legislation has raised concerns that ris- ing fuel and other costs will create a competitive disad- vantage and drive out high- er-paying industrial jobs to 6 5 Vancouver Portland General Electric- Beaver plant WASHINGTON 26 Portland Tillamook Edward Stratton and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group Source: Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality 30 5 TILLAMOOK 6 47 10 miles 101 states and countries without carbon pricing. NW Natu- ral has warned the bill will increase fuel prices 13 per- cent by 2021, 44 percent by 2035 and 60 percent by 2040. Employees at Georgia-Pa- cifi c, owned by Koch Indus- tries, have testifi ed before the Legislature that the com- pany might shift business away from the mill to avoid the additional costs. The pulp YAMHILL 18 205 5 and paper industry has called for a blanket exemption from carbon caps. “Oregon is almost certain to lose jobs to states that have lesser environmental regula- tions and legislation result- ing in far higher emissions,” Bill Kerr, president of the United Steelworkers Union Local 1097 that represents more than 600 employees at Wauna, said during testi- testifi ed last month that Ore- gon’s mills are signifi cantly ahead of the curve in reduc- ing carbon emissions and using hydroelectric, bio- mass and other carbon-neu- tral power sources. Without an exemption for trade-intensive facilities, he said, “Oregon will lose jobs and global emissions will increase. Losing Ore- gon jobs to other states or nations, while merely shift- ing the emissions elsewhere, does more harm than good.” Job creator COLUMBIA 26 Cannon Beach . Wash Ore. California and Quebec, Can- ada, allowing Oregon busi- nesses to buy allowances from elsewhere. The legislation, still being ironed out in Salem, includes carve-outs for some industries. Sawmills, where the majority of emissions are biogenic, or naturally infl u- enced, would be exempt from the cap. Electric utili- ties like Pacifi Corp, which serves most of Clatsop County through Pacifi c Power, and Portland General Electric, which has large nat- ural gas plants in Columbia County, would receive free allowances through 2030 to account for work done to phase out coal power. Gas utilities like NW Nat- ural, the state’s largest, would not receive free allowances. T rade-exposed facili- ties like Wauna Mill would receive free allowances the fi rst year. Companies would pay for an increasing percent- age of pollution allowances in proportion to the percent- age decrease in the cap on emissions between 2022 and 2050. Georgia-Pacifi c would have to purchase an esti- mated $123,000 worth of allowances in 2022, its bill increasing as the pollution cap lowers and the company becomes more responsible for covering allowances. An independent analy- sis by Berkeley Economic Advising and Research showed that increases in energy prices resulting from the bill would be outweighed by the job creation in clean Pacific Continued from Page A1 mony last month. An economist for his union estimated the region could lose as many as 2,500 direct and indirect jobs if a mill like Wauna was to close, costing state and local governments more than $20 million in revenue, Kerr said. Chris McCabe, executive director of the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association, Those in support of the Clean Energy Jobs Bill have hailed it as a potential shot in the arm for battling cli- mate change and building a more climate-friendly econ- omy, potentially producing an estimated $700 million a year from selling pollution permits. Among the leading propo- nents are members of Oregon Business for Climate, a coa- lition of around 100 medium and large companies, includ- ing Astoria’s Fort George Brewery. “As members, we share in the organization’s mis- sion of reducing our state- wide emissions while strengthening Oregon’s economy,” Jack Har- ris, the co-owner of Fort George, testifi ed last month before the Legislature. “We believe that the cap-and- trade model that is the foun- dation of (the Clean Energy Jobs Bill) provides the low- est-cost option for achiev- ing our reduction targets while also incentivizing and fostering innovation to Ore- gon’s economy.” Clearcutting: ‘Most Oregonians don’t enjoy such protections for their drinking water’ Continued from Page A1 sediments and temperatures in waterways, endangering rural communities. While many municipali- ties — including Astoria — control the forested water- sheds that provide drinking water, smaller and less affl uent communities are often dependent on water- ways that run through pri- vate timberland, according to proponents. “Unfortunately, most Oregonians don’t enjoy such protections for their drinking water,” said Greg Haller, executive director of the Pacifi c Rivers envi- ronmental group. Haller said the evidence is “incontrovertible” that existing protections under the Oregon Forest Prac- tices Act are insuffi cient to ensure safe drinking water. The laws and regulations have been infl uenced by “Wall Street foresters” who stand the most to lose from HB 2656, he said. Logging practices are aggravating water supply problems that will grow more serious over time with climate change, said John Talberth, senior economist with the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network. Streamfl ows in for- ests planted roughly four decades ago are 50 percent lower than in forests with trees between 150 to 500 years old, said Talberth. Clear cutting, pesti- cide-spraying and fertiliza- tion are conducive to the kind of toxic algal blooms that occurred in Salem’s drinking water reservoir last year, he said. Risky activities should be prohibited and regula- tions should instead fol- low “ecological forestry” principles, Talberth said. “These practices are win- win-win solutions for landowners, workers and communities.” Opponents of the bill, including many small for- estland owners, say the pro- posed restrictions are not only uneconomical, but unnecessary. They point to a fi nding by Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality that water quality conditions are most commonly rated “excellent” and “good” in forests compared to other land types. The agency also deter- mined forests contained the smallest proportion of “poor” and “very poor” water quality sites com- pared to cities, farmland and rangeland. “Contemporary prac- tices protect our water,” said Maryanne Reiter, a hydrologist with the Wey- erhaeuser timber company. Federal studies have confi rmed that rules against pesticide drift prevent unsafe herbicides in water- ways, while also indicat- ing sediment levels remain similar before and after log- ging, she said. Sedimentation is more closely related to an area’s geology, rainfall and fi re history than land use prac- tices, Reiter said. “House Bill 2656 is an unnecessary and extreme solution in search of a prob- lem,” said Mary Anne Coo- per, vice president of public policy for the Oregon Farm Bureau. By eliminating the incen- tive to keep lands in timber production, the proposal would threaten the conver- sion of forests to other uses, she said. The prohibition against pesticides would hinder the fi ght against invasive spe- cies in forests while also banning the use of common “bug spray” at camp sites, Cooper said. A lack of management would leave forests more vulnerable to wildfi res, which in recent years have predominantly occurred on federal lands with greatly reduced timber harvest lev- els, said Peter Sikora, CEO of the Giustina Resources timber company. “You can’t simply leave it alone. Fire will take its course,” he said. Free Concert The Daily Astorian and Liberty Theatre present the U.S. Coast Guard Woodwind Quintet In concert Wednesday, April 3 • 7 p.m. Liberty Theatre • Astoria Arrest: The confusion was over which patient instigated the fi ght Continued from Page A1 was complete, Baker was cleared by the board and returned to work in January. But the board chairwoman and another board member resigned in protest. The Oregon Health Authority review was criti- cal of the respite center staff and Baker. Video footage of the fi ght showed the wrong patient was arrested. The program manager wanted to contact police and alerted Baker, who was on-call that night, but Baker initially advised her to wait until the next morning. After the program manager grew uncomfort- able with the decision and reached out a second time, Baker authorized her to have police look at the video. Baker asked the Ore- gon Health Authority to consider making correc- tions to the review after the OTIS investigation. She believed — correctly — that the state would not substantiate an allegation of neglect by respite center staff. Saerom England, a spokeswoman for the health authority, said the two pro- cesses are separate. The health authority’s review looked at whether the respite center was fulfi lling state licensing requirements and following state rules, while OTIS examined a specifi c fi nding of patient neglect. “We do not plan to make any changes,” England said in an email. Baker said the agency appreciates and respects the health authority’s over- sight, “but we believe OTIS did a more thorough investigation.” “From my perspective, the fact that staff were not responsible for a wrongful arrest was a really important conclusion to the investiga- tion,” she said. The confusion, the differ- ent investigations showed, was over which patient instigated the fi ght. The patient who was arrested was known to be aggressive and was bleeding and agi- tated when police arrived. The other patient involved apparently admitted to police that he was at fault, but it was not clear to police until the video footage was reviewed a few hours later. Before it was sorted out, the patient was arrested for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, and then arrested again for criminal trespass when he returned to the respite center after being released from county jail. No charges were ever fi led. Daily Astorian Subscribers, Liberty Theater members and Coast Guard active and retired personnel can pick up their free tickets at the Daily Astorian starting March 11. Tickets are available to the public beginning March 18. For more information call 503-325-3211 TICKET HOLDERS PLEASE BE SEATED BY 6:45 P.M. DOORS WILL OPEN TO NON-TICKET HOLDERS AT 6:50 P.M.