B2
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
L ET ’ S TALK TURKEY
S TATE N EWS
Environmental lobby
capitalizing on majorities
By Hillary Borrud
Capital Bureau
SALEM – Environmental
lobbyists are on a roll this
year in Oregon.
They notched a big win
early in the session when
lawmakers passed legis-
lation to make the state’s
low-carbon fuel standard
permanent. Now, lobbyists
for a coalition of groups
have turned their focus to
bills that would require
utilities to stop using pow-
er from coal plants by
2025.
That work isn’t cheap.
In 2014, a broad spectrum
of environmental groups
spent nearly $470,000 on
lobbying in Salem, accord-
ing to EO Media Group/
Pamplin Media Group Cap-
ital Bureau’s analysis of
state lobbying records.
The organizations range
from small groups that
promote water quality and
wildlife issues, to industry
organizations that seek in-
centives for renewable ener-
gy and efficiency projects.
Still, spending by the
environmental lobby is low
compared with other in-
dustries. A single energy
interest group – the West-
ern States Petroleum Asso-
ciation, which opposed the
low-carbon fuel standard
– spent just under $360,000
on lobbying in Oregon last
year. All interest groups re-
ported spending a total of
nearly $27 million on lob-
bying in the state last year.
“We definitely don’t
spend nearly as much mon-
ey on lobbying,” said Chris-
ty Splitt, a registered lob-
byist and coordinator for a
coalition of environmental
groups called the Oregon
Conservation
Network.
“I’m not going out to dinner
with legislators, or whatev-
er other people are able to
do, spending money on lob-
bying. I think most of what
we spend on lobbying is
going to pay people’s sala-
ries.”
The environmental lobby
does have several advan-
tages, including strength in
numbers and strong support
from Democratic lawmak-
ers this session. At least 55
registered lobbyists repre-
sent environmental interests
in Oregon, and most are em-
ployees of the groups they
represent and do other work
in addition to lobbying. In
addition, Splitt said there
are pro-environment major-
ities in both chambers.
Environmentalists
did
The Eagle/Scotta Callister
You may call them a flock or a gobble, but birders say a group of turkeys is
properly known as a rafter. This rafter was seen wandering along the Middle
Fork John Day River recently, apparently enjoying the early spring weather.
John Day swim team
signups coming up
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Signups
for the John Day Swim
Team will be at the Grant
Union Junior-Senior High
School library from 5:30 to
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 8,
and Wednesday, May 6.
For more information,
contact Erin Hodge, 541-
805-8996.
Your Rural Fa mily Health Clinic
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D YDLODEOH
Last day to
ski is April 5
Blue Mountain Eagle
NORTH POWDER –
Time’s running out for
those who want to hit the
slopes this season.
The last day of op-
erations at Anthony
Lakes Mountain Resort
is Sunday, April 5. The
resort will be open reg-
ular hours 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Thursday-Sunday, April
2-5.
On Saturday, Tyler
Brooks of Pendleton will
offer live music, and
Sunday, visitors can en-
joy the annual Last Day
Barbecue Bash.
For more information,
visit http://www.antho-
nylakes.com/.
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RU
Attend a Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation Dinner
and Benefit Auction
GRANT COUNTY
LIBRARY
HOURS:
Mon, Wed., Sat. 1-5 pm •
Tues. 10 a.m. to noon and 1-7
pm Thurs.: 1-5 pm and 7-9 pm
• Fri. and Sun.: Closed
Where fun and fund-raising combine
for a memorable evening.
Date:
Time:
Place:
Saturday, April 25
4:00—Doors open
5:30—Dinner
7:30—Auction
Pavilion—
Grant County Fairgrounds
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Gale Wall 541-575-2661
A great time for a great cause.
Proceeds benefit elk and other wildlife.
on our
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“House
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grantcounty.plinkit.org
Phone: 541-575-1992
1469
Pamplin Media Group
Activist protest against coal trains in the file photo.
Environmental groups are taking advantage of
Democratic majorities in both houses of the Oregon
Legislature to advance their agenda this session.
not always enjoy such a
strong position in Oregon.
The Oregon Conservation
Network formed 20 years
ago at a time when envi-
ronmentalists spent a lot of
time fighting bills aimed at
undermining “good” legis-
lation passed in the 1970s,
Splitt said. Republicans had
control of the House from
1990 to 2006, and the Sen-
ate from 1994 to 2002.
“I think folks were feel-
ing pretty frustrated with
bad bills passing,” and de-
cided to create a coalition to
focus on shared priorities,
Splitt said. “The group or-
ganized at the time pretty
much played defense.”
A decade ago, the coali-
tion decided to stop playing
defense and begin propos-
ing more new legislation.
Rhett Lawrence, conserva-
tion director for the Oregon
chapter of the Sierra Club
and a registered lobbyist
for the group, said coalition
members started to come
up with annual lists of bills
they could agree upon called
“priorities for a healthy Or-
egon.”
The environmental lob-
by’s top priorities today are
two bills they describe as
“coal to clean”: Senate Bill
477 and House Bill 2729.
Both would require util-
ities to stop generating or
purchasing electricity from
coal power plants by 2025.
The Senate version would
also require companies to
replace coal power with
electricity from sources
“at least 90 percent cleaner
than coal-derived generat-
ing resources,” according to
a legislative summary.
Splitt said other priorities
this year include SB613, a
bill to require private for-
estland owners to provide
notice to the state and keep
other records of their use of
pesticides, a bill to appro-
priate money for the Ore-
gon Department of Fish and
Wildlife to spend on conser-
vation and legislation that
would allow the state to end
a mandate to generate reve-
nue from timber harvests on
some public forests.
Environmental groups
are also pushing for the
passage of legislation that
would preserve or create in-
centives for a range of solar
projects, from residential to
utility scale facilities. Law-
rence said solar energy “still
needs a little bit of a hand
in the next step in putting it
on a level playing field with
fossil fuel.”
Splitt said environmental
groups also want money for
public transit to be included
in any funding package for
street maintenance and oth-
er transportation projects.
The outlook for that pack-
age is unclear, since Repub-
licans stopped participating
in talks after Democrats
passed the low-carbon fuel
bill.
Some groups lobbying
on the coal power bills and
other environmental issues
are not strictly environmen-
tal groups.
Bob Jenks, executive di-
rector of the Citizens Util-
ity Board of Oregon, said
the group supports the coal
legislation because govern-
ments will eventually reg-
ulate carbon emissions and
ratepayers could save mon-
ey if utilities begin to more
aggressively reduce carbon
now.
“We’ve got to work hard
because we don’t have the
money,” said Jenks, who is
not the utility board’s reg-
istered lobbyist but was in
Salem to testify in favor of
the coal bills on Wednesday.
“But we’ve got people. We
can organize people.”
Aletha Bonebrake
VOTE
OTEC Board Position 5
Service to Members
• Credentialed Cooperative Director
• Focus: affordable, reliable power
• Informed decision-making
Experienced Leadership
Incumbent - Position #5
“I ask for your vote
On your OTEC Ballot
coming in the mail... ”
10
• Director, Baker County Library District 1985-2007
• Baker City Council 2009-2013
• State Library Board of Trustees 2010, Chair 2013- present
Commitment to Community
• 30 years in Eastern Oregon
• Local, regional, state councils
Paid for by Aletha Bonebrake 2347 Campbell St., Baker City
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