Iuly2l. 2010
'rin fJnrtianò (¡Observer
Page 5
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Sustainability » special
Help for the Columbia
D rew D akessian
T he P ortland O bserver
by
The Columbia River, a symbol of the Pacific Northwest,
is one of the few rivers in the U.S. that the federal
government has done little to maintain. But Congress might
be poised to change that.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
last month cleared the Columbia River Restoration Act of
2010. Senators Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Mike Crapo, R-
Idaho, and Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., authored the
bill. It will authorize the Environmental Protection Agency
to provide technical assistance and help state and local
agencies, tribal governments, industry, landowners, and
environmental groups in an effort to reduce toxic contami­
nation in the river.
“The Columbia River has been a lifeline for Oregon’s
fishing industry and powers much of the Northwest,”
continued
on page 17
The Columbia River east of Portland at Bonneville Dam.
Renewable Jet
Fuels Wanted
Local transportation and aviation lead­
ers have launched a strategic initiative to
promote aviation biofuel development in
the Pacific Northwest.
The project will look at biomass options
within a four-state area as possible sources
for creating renewable jet fuel.
The comprehensive assessment will ex­
amine all phases o f developing a sustain­
able biofuel industry, including biomass
production and harvest, refining, trans­
port infrastructure and actual use by air­
lines. It will include an analysis o f potential
biomass sources that are indigenous to
the Pacific Northwest, including algae,
agriculturally based oilseeds such as
camelina, wood byproducts and others.
The project is jointly funded by Alaska
Airlines, Boeing, Washington State Uni­
versity and the Seattle-Tacoma, Spokane
and Portland International Airports.
Plastic Bag Ban
c o n t i n u e d f r o m fro n t
If it passes, it w ould go into effect
in January 2012, giving opponents
o f the ban am ple to tim e to rally.
Adams announced his plans for
the ordinance at a rally in front o f
City Hall last Wednesday and was
joined by a crowd o f supporters,
including members o f the Surfrider
F o u n d a tio n ’s O regon C hapter,
which has launched a “Ban the Bag”
campaign.
Opponents o f the ban, like Keith
Christman, managing director o f the
American Chemistry Council’s Plas­
tics Division, called the Portland
proposal a completely wrong ap­
proach.
“Banning plastic bags would
cause a switch to paper bags, which
have resulted in twice [the] green­
house gas emissions, use twice as
much energy to make, and produce
80 percent more waste,” he said.
In 2007 when San Francisco be­
came the first U.S. city to ban single­
use plastic bags, citizens did switch
to paper bags.
T h is d o es not m ean th at
Christman would prefer that paper
bags be banned instead.
“If you banned both [paper and
plastic bags], you would still get rid
o f.. .the recycling infrastructure for
other kinds o f plastic bags and
wraps,” he said
When asked if the American
Chemistry Council supports reus­
able bags, Christman replied, “Ifyou
reuse something, you’re prevent-
ing the manufacture o f something
else for that purpose.”
Joe G illiam , President o f the
N orthw est G rocery A ssociation,
has a som ew hat different outlook.
He thinks that people should re­
use bags or get a bag specifically
for that purpose, and is quick to
point out the torrid history o f the
bag ban.
“Seattle went down in flames,
and that’s a pretty liberal city,” he
said. “If w e’re gonna do this, we
think it should be [applied to] all
retailers statewide.”
To prevent something similar
happening in Portland, Gilliam said
it should be applied to all retailers
statewide.
“W e’ve asked the mayor to con­
sider setting his ordinance up in a
way that allows the legislature to act
next time,” said Gilliam. “We think it
should be done statewide, so that
there’s one set o f rules.”
Unlike the American Chemistry
Council, the Northwest Grocery
Association takes issue not with
the concept o f the bag ban, but the
method o f implementation.
“W e’ve asked the mayor to con­
sider setting his ordinance up in a
way that al lows the legislature to act
next time,” said Gilliam. “We think it
should be done, statewide, so that
there’s one set o f rules.”
But Adams is charging ahead.
Though a blog post from A dam s’
website states, “Portland and Or­
egon have always led the nation on
smart environmental policy.”
■ ■
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