A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021
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BRIEFING
Democrats try
to reinstate rules
to limit methane
Congressional Dem-
ocrats are moving to
reinstate regulations de-
signed to limit potent
greenhouse gas emis-
sions from oil and gas
fields, as part of a broader
effort by the Biden ad-
ministration to tackle cli-
mate change.
The Senate planned
to take up a resolution
Wednesday that would
undo an environmen-
tal rollback by President
Donald Trump that re-
laxed requirements of a
2016 Obama administra-
tion rule targeting meth-
ane emissions from oil
and gas drilling.
The Environmental
Protection Agency ap-
proved the rule last year.
Democrats and envi-
ronmentalists called it
one of the Trump admin-
istration’s most egregious
actions to deregulate U.S.
businesses, noting that
methane is one of the
most potent greenhouse
gases that contribute to
global warming, packing
a stronger punch in the
short term than even car-
bon dioxide.
Fed keeps key
rate near zero
The Federal Reserve
is keeping its ultra-low
interest rate policies in
place, a sign that it wants
to see more evidence of a
strengthening economic
recovery before it would
consider easing its sup-
port.
In a statement
Wednesday, the Fed ex-
pressed a brighter out-
look, saying the economy
has improved along with
the job market. And while
the policymakers noted
that inflation has risen,
they ascribed the increase
to temporary factors.
The Fed also signaled
its belief that the pan-
demic’s threat to the
economy has diminished,
a significant point given
Chair Jerome Powell’s
long-stated view that the
recovery depends on the
virus being brought un-
der control. Last month,
the Fed had cautioned
that the virus posed
“considerable risks to the
economic outlook.” On
Wednesday, it said only
that “risks to the eco-
nomic outlook remain”
because of the pandemic.
Aid for low-income
homeowners
The Federal Hous-
ing Finance Agency on
Wednesday announced
a new refinance option
for certain low-income
borrowers, helping them
take advantage of low
interest rates and save
money each month.
To qualify, borrowers
must have a Fannie Mae
or Freddie Mac backed
loan, for a single-family
home that they reside in.
Their income must be at
or below 80% of the me-
dian income for their area.
And their loan needs to be
in generally good stand-
ing — with no missed
payments in the past six
months and no more than
one missed payment in
the past 12 months.
While there are other
requirements for the
credit profile, it is de-
signed to ease the process
to allow more borrow-
ers qualify. The cost and
credit requirements can
keep some lower-income
borrowers from seeking
refinancing. The new refi-
nance option will be avail-
able to eligible borrowers
beginning this summer.
— Bulletin wire reports
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PSEUDOEPHEDRINE
Look, up in the sky!
It’s Thin Mints
Measure
would
eliminate
need for a
prescription
Bill passes the Oregon House
BY PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Sam Dean/Wing LLC via AP
Girl Scouts Alice, right, and Gracie work with a Wing delivery drone April 14 in Christiansburg, Virginia. The com-
pany is testing drone delivery of Girl Scout cookies in the area.
Girl Scout cookies take flight in Virginia drone deliveries
BY MATT O’BRIEN • The Associated Press
M
issing out on Thin Mints in the pandemic? A Google affiliate is using drones
to deliver Girl Scout cookies to people’s doorsteps in a Virginia community.
Oregon would no longer require a pre-
scription for medicines containing ephed-
rine or pseudoephedrine under a bill that
has cleared the House.
House Bill 2648 went to the Senate on a
54-4 vote on Wednesday.
The requirement for a prescription was
written into law in 2005, when people were
buying medicines containing pseudoephed-
rine — a precursor chemical — for use in
making methamphetamine, a powerful
stimulant that is illegal. Oregon was the first
state to do so.
“We had a meth-lab problem, and it was
really bad,” Rep. Bill Post, a Republican from
Keizer and the bill’s floor manager, said. “It
worked. Meth labs went way down to al-
most nothing.”
The law made it harder to obtain some
medicines commonly used for colds and al-
lergies.
But since then, methamphetamine man-
ufacturing has switched from homegrown
labs to Mexico.
See Pseudoephedrine / A12
The town of Christiansburg has been a testing ground for commercial
delivery drones operated by Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s corporate parent Alphabet.
Now the company is adding
the iconic boxed cookies to the
more mundane drugstore offer-
ings, FedEx packages and local-
ly-made pastries, tacos and cold
brew coffees it’s been hauling to
a thinly populated area of resi-
dential subdivisions since 2019.
Wing said it began talking to
local Girl Scout troops because
they’ve been having a harder
time selling cookies during the
pandemic, when fewer people
are out and about.
The organization jumped on
the new twist to its skills-build-
ing mission.
“I’m excited that I get to be a
part of history,” said 11-year-old
Gracie Walker, of the Girl Scouts
of Virginia Skyline Troop 224.
“People are going to realize and
be, like, ‘Hey, this is better for the
environment, and I can just walk
outside in my pajamas and get
cookies.’”
It’s the latest attempt to build
public enthusiasm for futuristic
drone delivery as Wing com-
petes against Amazon, Walmart,
UPS and others to overcome the
many technical and regulatory
challenges of flying packages
over neighborhoods.
David Vos, an aerospace en-
gineer who led Google’s Wing
project until 2016, said he has
Pharmaceutical
industry lobbies
to defeat Oregon
drug-pricing bill
Trade group spent nearly
$800K during first quarter
BY HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
Sam Dean/Wing LLC via AP
Alice and Gracie open a Wing delivery drone container.
“I’m excited that I get to be a part of history. People are going to
realize and be, like, ‘Hey, this is better for the environment, and
I can just walk outside in my pajamas and get cookies.’”
— Gracie Walker, 11, of the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Troop 224
been surprised that drone de-
livery ventures haven’t taken off
more quickly.
“I thought it was completely
doable to be up and going by
2021,” Vos said.
While he still thinks drone
technology is getting closer to
delivering the size, weight and
power needed to transport
goods safely in populated places,
Vos said the tech industry also
needs a cultural shift.
In particular, he said, it needs
to bring on people from the tra-
ditional aviation industry who
have experience building “safe-
ty-critical systems” that meet
strict performance standards.
See Cookies / A12
The pharmaceutical industry is pumping
money into lobbying Oregon lawmakers in
an effort to kill a drug pricing proposal that
would be the most aggressive in the nation.
Industry trade group PhRMA reported
spending more than $790,000 on lobbying
in Oregon during the first quarter of the
year, more than four times as much as any
other entity.
Two years ago, PhRMA spent $106,697
lobbying Oregon lawmakers in the same
three-month period. Oregon’s legislative ses-
sion continues through June.
The prospect that Oregon could create a
Prescription Drug Affordability Board em-
powered to set upper limits on how much
individual and insurance group buyers
could pay for the most expensive drugs has
attracted national political spending for and
against the proposal, The Oregonian re-
ported earlier this month.
See Drug pricing / A12
COLUMBIA RIVER
Despite drought, good water supply predicted
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
COLUMBIA LAKE, B.C. —
Drought plagues much of the West,
but officials predict abundant water
supplies this year for Pacific North-
west irrigators who rely on the Co-
lumbia River System.
That’s good news for thousands
of U.S. farms that rely on drainage
from the Columbia River water-
shed, spanning Oregon, Washing-
ton, Idaho, western Montana and
small portions of Wyoming, Utah
and Nevada.
The Columbia — the Pacific
Northwest’s largest river — begins
in the Rocky Mountains of British
Columbia, Canada, zigzags into
Washington state, turns west into
Oregon and finally empties into
the Pacific Ocean. The river’s larg-
est tributary is the Snake River,
crossing Idaho.
The recent positive forecast
comes after a winter of heavy
snowpack in British Columbia.
The Canadian Drought Mon-
itor’s most recent report labels
the region surrounding the river’s
headwaters as “abnormally dry”
this spring due to meager rain-
fall — 40% below average. But be-
cause of a snowy winter, officials
say water supplies look healthy.
“I don’t think (irrigators) will
have any problems with water sup-
plies on the Columbia this year,”
said Nick Bond, Washington state
climatologist. “It’s tapping that
healthy snowpack.”
Bond said farmers that rely on
the Columbia are much more fortu-
nate than irrigators in other regions.
While it might seem strange
that the Columbia River is getting
more water while other areas are
getting less, Bond said, it makes
sense according to current cli-
mate change models, which pre-
dict lower latitudes will experience
increasing drought while higher
latitudes will experience more ex-
treme winter snowfalls .
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River. The water supply
for the river system will be ample, experts say.