Fiscal Year 2007 Report

“It has really been an extraordinary year—one

in which Oregon reasserted its position as a national leader in protecting the

environment we call home.”

—Jeremiah Baumann

From the staff

It’s been quite a year for Oregon’s environment.

In June, our staff watched the governor sign Oregon’s Renewable Energy Standard into law. This landmark energy policy—Environment Oregon’s top priority for the past year—will require Oregon utilities to generate 25 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and includes important new energy conservation measures.

At a time when Oregon families are facing an array of energy-related problems—rising costs, dependence on out-of-state and foreign energy sources, and global warming—we helped make Oregon a national leader in energy-saving measures. And we helped establish a new policy requiring that 1.5 percent of funds used for public buildings be set aside to install solar power on those buildings.

The Oregon Legislature enacted an ambitious set of Environment Oregon-backed environmental policies, including a new clean water program that will cut toxic pollution in our rivers, an expansion of the Bottle Bill to include bottled water, a new recycling program for computers and TVs, and a moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling on the Oregon coast.

All in all, 12 of the 15 bills Environment Oregon supported were passed into law this session. It’s not every year that we look back on victories that not only protect clean air, clean water and open space, but also truly reassert our state’s position as a national leader in environmental protection. That’s something we can all be proud of.

Of course, there is much more to be done. As I write this, our entire staff is working to pass Ballot Measure 49—to protect our forests and farmland from out-of-control development of subdivisions and strip malls allowed by Measure 37. And we’re laying the groundwork to establish a state limit on global warming pollution and establish the fi rst network of protected areas off the Oregon coast.

But let’s not forget to celebrate our victories. We couldn’t have had a year like this without you. On behalf of our staff and on behalf of our environment, thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Jeremiah BaumannEnvironment Oregon

Sincerely,

Environment Oregon 2

While the Bush administration has consistently stalled on federal action, Environment Oregon has made steady progress to ensure that Oregon stays at the front of the pack as states take leadership in address-ing global warming.

Global warming is the most pro-found environmental problem of our time, and it is already causing the loss of snowpack in the Cas-cades, threatening water supplies for farm irrigation and salmon migra-tion, and increasing the frequency of severe wildfires.

Clean cars for OregonBack in 2006, Environment Oregon worked with Gov. Kulongoski to establish tough new standards to cut global warming pollution from new cars and trucks sold in Oregon. In 2007, we worked with the Oregon Legislature to pass legislation that will help implement the program.

Environment Oregon worked with the Oregon congressional delega-tion to defend Oregon’s Clean Cars program, and hold the Bush admin-istration accountable for dragging its feet in authorizing states like Oregon to implement our programs. Thanks to our work, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Portland) put tough questions to

EPA Administrator Stephen John-son about his failure to authorize Oregon’s program.

Expanding Oregon’s leadershipEnvironment Oregon’s Jeremiah Baumann served on a governor’s task force that developed a com-prehensive pollution reduction program and is now working to turn that program into law. In the spring of 2007, the Oregon Legis-lature formally adopted some of the strongest pollution-reduction goals in the country.

Gov. Kulongoski also launched a sig-nificant new program with the backing of Environment Oregon: a regional effort by six western states to jointly reduce global warming pollution.

The governors of all six states are cur-rently working to develop the details, and Environment Oregon is working to make sure the program achieves the pollution reductions scientists tell us are necessary to stabilize the climate and avoid the worst conse-quences of global warming.

Even as national progress on global warming seems far away, states like Oregon are pursuing strong measures to fight global warming coast-to-coast.

Global warming has caused significant decreases in snowpack in the Cascades. By making cars cleaner and encouraging renewable energy, Oregon is fighting global warming.

Oregon cuts global warming pollution, starting with Clean Cars

Photo credits: P.1 Staff; P.2 clockwise from top: James Horning*, Kevin Eaves*, Clipart.com.

Environment Oregon is thrilled to report that in 2007, our work helped to steer the state toward us-ing homegrown, renewable energy resources to address our energy problems, cut global warming pollu-tion, and reassert our environmen-tal leadership nationally.

Oregon families have been facing a torrent of energy problems in recent years: rising energy prices, depen-dence on foreign and out-of-state energy supplies, and, of course, the effects of global warming.

Environment Oregon backed mea-sures to promote clean, renewable, homegrown energy sources because we have the natural resources to implement visionary solutions to energy problems. Areas of eastern Oregon have excellent wind en-ergy potential. The entire state has better solar energy potential than Germany, a world leader in solar power—even the rainiest places on the coast. And we have tremen-dous potential for geothermal and wave energy.

25 percent by 2025The most significant accomplish-ment of the year was the passage of the Environment Oregon-backed Renewable Energy Standard. It

“Our ambitious set of real solutions to Oregon’s energy problems passed

into law this year, and because of that, Oregon is

truly a national leader in energy conservation and

renewable energy.”

—Jeremiah BaumannAdvocate

3 Environment Oregon

New tax credits will help Oregonians install solar panels on their homes and businesses.

Oregon renews leadership on renewable energy and conservation

requires that large utilities generate 25 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Environ-ment Oregon worked with the Citi-zens’ Utility Board and Renewable Northwest Project to build a broad coalition, including farmers, rural elected officials, unions, religious leaders and business leaders.

We worked with Gov. Kulongoski, who made the policy a signature item of his legislative agenda, state Sens. Brad Avakian (Bethany) and Jason Atkinson (Grants Pass), and state Reps. Jackie Dingfelder and Ben Cannon (both Portland) to pass this landmark energy plan for the state.

The bill also included critical energy conservation provisions, including an increase in utilities’ ability to invest in energy con-servation and an extension of the public purpose charge, which funds energy conservation and renewable energy programs at the Energy Trust of Oregon.

More Oregon innovationEnvironment Oregon advocated passage of several other bills that will help put Oregon on the map as an innovative leader in clean energy solutions.

P.3 Photo credit: Getty Images;P.4: Dennis Schwartz, DESphotography.com.

u New renewable energy programs will expand the use of wind power in Oregon.

A new energy-efficiency program requires that six types of appliances reduce their energy consumption. The program also authorizes the De-partment of Energy to set standards for other appliances, so that Oregon families can continue to benefit from leading energy-conservation technologies as they develop.

In addition, we supported a package of tax credits for homeowners and businesses that choose to invest in re-newable energy projects. Oregon now has the best tax-credit incentives for families and businesses to invest in re-newable energy, helping city-dwellers install solar panels and rural families use small wind power generators.

Finally, Environment Oregon helped establish a new solar energy program that will allow the state to use its resources to expand solar energy generation in Oregon. New pub-licly-owned buildings in Oregon will use 1.5 percent of their budgets for solar energy technologies.

After years of advocating for serious steps to reduce the toxic chemicals that polluters discharge into the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Environment Oregon is happy to report the first significant success in Salem.

Statewide plan for reducing pollutionUnder a new clean water policy ne-gotiated by Environment Oregon’s Jeremiah Baumann and a coalition of environmental organizations, the Oregon Department of Environ-mental Quality (DEQ) will conduct a statewide assessment of the most dangerous toxic pollution contami-nating Oregon’s rivers, focusing on the pollution that persists in the environment and accumulates in the bodies of animals and wildlife.

Most importantly, DEQ will docu-ment the sources of the pollution and the available technologies for reducing pollution at the source.

In response, Oregon’s largest dis-chargers of toxic chemicals through sewage systems will be required to develop pollution-prevention plans that will become part of their Clean Water Act permits. Environment Oregon worked with the League of Oregon Cities, which supported the clean water bill, in order to help cities take responsibility for ad-

5 Environment Oregon

dressing pollution from municipal sewer systems.

The new policy is only a first step, and Environment Oregon will work to not only make sure the policy is implemented over the next several years, but also to extend the policy to other polluters and address other sources of water pollution.

Enforcing clean air and water lawsOften, existing clean air and clean water laws are adequate, but their enforcement is lacking. Environ-ment Oregon worked with the DEQ to pass a bill that will increase “polluter pays” fees on the largest emitters of air pollution in the state, to ensure that polluters, and not taxpayers, are funding implementa-tion and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.

In addition, we worked with a co-alition of environmental advocates and businesses to help DEQ receive its biggest budget increase in more than a decade to fund implementa-tion and enforcement of our envi-ronmental laws.

Reducing mercury pollutionIn response to advocacy by Environ-ment Oregon and other organiza-tions, in December 2006, Oregon joined other states around the coun-

P.3 Photo credits: Clockwise from top:Lynn Schnitzer—Creative Commons, Andreas Reinhold*, Istockphoto.com.

P.4 Photo credits: Stephen VanHorn*. Inset images, left to right: Avatavat*, NOAA,

Emin Kuliyv*.

Increasing Oregon’s commitment to clean air and water

The Willamette River (top) suffers from persistent pollution problems. Over the last

year, Environment Oregon worked to bring new protections to our water and air.

try requiring coal-fi red power plants to reduce their toxic mercury pollu-tion to the lowest possible level.

Bodies of water statewide, including the Willamette and Columbia riv-ers, are contaminated with mercury to the point that Oregonians are warned to limit their consumption of fi sh. The largest source of indus-trial mercury pollution nationally is coal-fi red power plants. Oregon has only one coal-fi red power plant, op-erated by Portland General Electric (PGE) in Boardman, near the east-ern end of the Columbia Gorge.

In the summer of 2006, DEQ pro-posed adopting the Bush adminis-tration’s lax mercury reduction rules for PGE’s coal plant.

Environment Oregon joined Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the Oregon Chapter of Sierra Club, and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center in urging DEQ to adopt stronger rules, and by the end of the year, DEQ had adopted the coalition’s recommended stan-dard—a 90 percent reduction in mercury pollution.

Report: Toxic pollution threatens Oregonians’ health

Industries across the United States pump billions of pounds of toxic chemicals into our air, land and water every year, causing cancer and other severe health effects. Environment Oregon Research and Policy Center examined reports fi led in 2004 by polluting companies that document releases of known or suspected cancer-causing chemicals.

In 2004, industries released more than 70 million pounds of potential cancer-causing pollution into the country’s air and water. Oregon’s industrial facilities reported releasing more than 450,000 pounds of chemicals linked to developmental problems, such as birth defects and learning disabilities, and more than 12 million pounds of chemicals linked to neurological problems.

Coal power and poisonous fi sh

Mercury Pollution

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is found increasingly in fi sh—resulting in warnings for people to limit their consumption of fi sh caught in Oregon. Coal-fi red power plants, cement plants and other sources emit mercury, which settles out of the air into lakes and streams, where it makes its way into fi sh we eat.

Oregon’s amazing landscape is criti-cal to our identity as Oregonians: from fruit orchards to range land, from coast to Cascades. Our iconic landscape faces serious threats, and Environment Oregon works to pro-tect it from logging, mining, drilling and poorly planned development.

Reforming Measure 37The 2004 passage of Measure 37, the property-rights measure that led to unrestricted development on protected farm and forest lands, unleashed an unprecedented land grab. By the beginning of 2007, de-velopers and timber companies had proposed developments on 750,000 acres of otherwise protected open space across the state.

These proposals include housing developments among the pear or-chards of the Hood River Valley and the forests of the Coast Range, a Wal-Mart proposed for Portland’s Sellwood neighborhood, a pumice mine in the Newberry Crater Na-tional Volcanic Monument outside Bend, and strip malls throughout the Willamette Valley.

Environment Oregon worked with 1,000 Friends of Oregon and others to advocate Measure 37 reforms in Salem. By June, the Oregon Legis-lature had put a proposed reform on

7 Environment Oregon

the ballot for a special election in November 2007. Measure 49 would reform Measure 37 to protect forests, farms, and areas with restricted water supplies by limiting large de-velopments and keeping industrial and commercial development in areas planned for those uses.

Leading up to Election Day, Environ-ment Oregon’s staff will work to win passage of Measure 49 on the ballot.

Mt. Hood Wilderness preservedA favorite destination for Oregon vacationers and the headwaters of rivers that provide many communi-ties with drinking water, Mt. Hood’s forests are crisscrossed with roads and carved into a patchwork of clearcuts. Thanks in part to Environment Ore-gon advocacy, Oregon’s congressional delegation crossed party lines to work together to establish new protections for Mt. Hood.

At the end of 2006, a bill co-spon-sored by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (Portland) and Greg Walden (Hood River) had passed the House.

In 2007, Oregon’s senators intro-duced their version, which was voted out by a Senate committee and is awaiting action in the full Senate. The bill designates more than 100,000 acres of new pro-

P.7 Photo credits: Clockwise from top:Thomas Oliver, Cheryl Hill*. P.8 Photo

credit: Gary Gilardi*.

Environment Oregon’s Jeremiah Baumann speaks alongside winery owners about the harm Measure

37 does to local agriculture and forest land, and the need to reform this measure.

Protecting Oregon’s forests, farms and open space

u Areas within Oregon’s national forests were put at risk of development. Protections for these areas were reinstated in September

tected wilderness areas and dozens of miles of new Wild and Scenic River protections.

Protecting the Oregon coastThe Oregon coast is one of our state’s treasures and a destination for Ore-gon families from across the state. For decades, policies banning oil and gas drilling off the coast have protected it from the oil spills and pollution that come with drilling rigs.

Unfortunately, oil and gas compa-nies have been pressuring Congress to lift the moratorium. The Bush administration even began a new inventory of oil and gas reserves.

So Environment Oregon teamed up with colleagues from across the country to retain the moratorium protecting the East and West coasts from drilling. We also worked with state Sen. Ryan Deckert (Beaver-ton) to enact a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in state waters off the Oregon coast.

Environment Oregon was there to help keep the Oregon coast protected.

u An orchard in the valley below Mt. Hood.

Environment Oregon

This June, the governor signed two new recycling measures into law. One measure expands and updates the Bottle Bill, and the other cre-ates recycling programs for appli-ances like computers, monitors and televisions.

Oregon established the first Bottle Bill in the country when it put the 5-cent refund on pop and beer cans and bottles. The policy worked—with help from OSPIRG, the former home of Environment Oregon.

Litter on Oregon’s beaches and roads declined dramatically, and recycling rates for cans and bottles stayed above 80 percent. Unfortu-nately, legislators in 1971 didn’t anticipate the proliferation of bottled waters, juices and teas, and for more than three decades the Bottle Bill has only applied to carbonated beverages.

In 2007, after advocacy work over more than a decade, the Oregon Legislature finally expanded the Oregon Bottle Bill. Environment Oregon worked with leaders of the Legislature to pass a bill that added bottled water containers to the Bottle Bill.

The bill will also make returning bottles more convenient for Or-

9

egon families by requiring grocery stores to take back all containers, not just the brands they sell. In addition, the bill established a task force to consider further expansions and improvements.

A 21st-century recycling programEnvironment Oregon helped pass a bill this year to address another modern trash problem: the growing volume of computers and televi-sions in landfills. Our advocacy helped create a free and convenient electronics recycling program for Oregon consumers.

The number of electronics products sent to landfills has increased dra-matically in recent years, and they often contain toxic heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, as well as valuable materials that should be recycled. The bill requires the com-panies that manufacture computers and televisions to pay for their col-lection and recycling, rather than taxpayers and local governments.

This financing model will not only relieve cash-strapped local govern-ments of the increasing cost of handling toxic solid waste, but will also provide a financial incentive to companies to design products to be easier to recycle and to rely less on toxic materials.

Renewing the Bottle Bill, and the future of recycling

Sen. Vicki Walker (Eugene), Rep. Scott Bruun (West Linn), Rep. Jackie Dingfelder (Portland) and

Sen. Brad Avakian (Bethany), at an event discussing the new electronic waste recycling program.

P.9 Photo credits: Clockwise from top:Staff, Clipart.com, Epugachev—Creative

Commons.

Stoller • Christine Storzbach • Marion Sturtevant • Richard Sullivan • Alida Rol & Thomas Harburg • Lysbeth Toribio • Evans Van Buren • Jeffery Wagner • Carolyn Wells • Dan Wieden • Athena Zaentv

SponsorsSponsors supported Environment Oregon with contributions of $350 to $499.

Peter Adamson • Mohammed Aljamal • Charles & Phylli Ault • David Baasch • Erin Bagley • Victor Bellotti • Paula Breihof • Tim Burcher • Brent Butler • Judy Campbell • Jeanne Collins • Jeri Janowsky & John Crabbe • Chris Cronin • John A. Crown • Jill Crushy • April Curtis • Jennifer Desmond • Patricia Doblie • Lois Dwyer • David Ellis • John Ely • Clayton A. Engel • Susan Fernald • Ralph Flint • Mary Ellen Ford • Elise Fulsang • Paul Goshorn • Deb Groskreutz • Joyce Gross • Jim Guild • Patricia Hagen • Paul Hanau • Phyllis & Kenneth Haynes • John Heasley • Lauren Herbert • Ruth Herrington • Mark Hibbard • Kathleen Higbee • Donald Houghton • Julie Isaaccson • Corey & Steve Jensen • Gail Jett • Kathleen Johnson • Kathy Jones • Susan & Collin Kaeder • Matt Kolberg • Julie Lary • Sarah Leben • Mel Lee • Jerry Maasdam • Laurence E. Malony • Ronald & Geri Mason • Yone Mc Nally • Kim Mc Quoid • Marci Mcfarlane • Lindsey Mcgrath • Peter Miller

• Jon Moore • Kay Moultrie • Deborah Neft • Ruth Newbury • Kris Newport • Paul O’Brian • Lorraine Otis • Virginia Pabst • Raul Pantoja • Andre Petett • Jim Phelps • Pamela Prosise • Victoria Quenneville • Valerie Ramaswamy • Rod Ray • Lydia Rich • Kenneth Rink • Suzanne Sampson • R. J. Schmierbach • Doug Scott • Allen Solares • Rae & Jeff Svendgard • Douglas Swail • Deborah Telew • Greg Thompson • M. Cecilia Tilley • Don Unrau • Eric Utz • Sandra Verhulst • Trudi Walta • Judith Walter • Kristine Willaman • Dennis Winner • Joshua Wood • Tim Wright

Research & Policy CenterThe Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center, a 501(c)(3) organization, conducts research and public education on emerging public interest issues. Contributions to the Environ-ment Oregon Research & Policy Center are tax-deductible.

The following foundations, or-ganizations and individuals sup-ported the Environment Oregon Research and Policy Center’s work in 2007. To find out more, call Vincent Rinehart at (503) 231-1986 ext. 315.

• Blue Moon Fund• Energy Foundation• Jude Russell• Manning Welsh

The following financial information reflects the combined financial resources of Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center, Environment Oregon and Environment Oregon’s citizen outreach projects for 2007.

Financial Information

Citizen Contributions 79%

Foundation Grants 21%

FY07 Income

FY07 Expenses

FY07 Program Expenses

Environment Oregon SupportersCitizen support is the cornerstone of Environment Oregon and the Environment Oregon Research & Policy Center. Thousands of Oregon citizens supported Environment Oregon (and OSPIRG before our launch) by making membership contributions in fiscal year 2007. The members listed below were particularly generous in backing the organization’s research and advocacy. Names that appear in italics denote our Monthly Supporters. These members provide stability to the organization’s resources through our monthly giving program.

Development CommitteeMembers of the Development Committee supported Environ-ment Oregon with contributions of $1000 or more.

Lori Baldwin • Jean Bottcher • Dave Brookens • Janna Brown • Colleen & Bill Gardner • Steven Marks • Adrian McJunkin • Douglas H. Phelps • Katy Reardon • Mary Richers • Robert Rodgers • Jude Russell • Kathleen Scanlan • Manning Welsh

PatronsPatrons supported Environment Oregon with contributions of $500 to $999.

Helen Apelle • Jerre Ann Bader • Allison Hayes Bader • Scott Benjamin • Scott Bolton • Maureen Coorpender • Linda Cunningham • John Cunningham • Wendy Del Mar • Stephen Dorow • Albrecht Enders • Jeanne Enders • Jean Fagnon • Albert Folsom • Deanna Geiger • Donna Gifford • K. Reed Gleason • Larry Goza • Andrea Hallinday • William & Karl Hawle-Legg • Lane Hickey • Douglas Hintzman • George Hoselton • Terence Jones • Jeffery Judkins • Dan Kennedy • Craig Kerr • Jack Kirk • Kurt Kovacs • Blaine Kozak M.D. • Bryan Lessley & Tina Stupasky • Adam Lopez • Robert & Linda Lucas • Karon McNutt • Teresa Meyer • Lani Miller • Brad Miller • Tim & Julie Moloney • Dennis Morgan • Karen Osuna • Daniel Parks • John Riordan • Beth Sheehan • Colleen Sorensen • Jonathan

Program 78%

Fundraising 15%

Administrative 7%

Plant a seed that will grow a greener Oregon.Please consider including Environment Oregon in your will. Your bequest will assure that we continue to protect Oregon’s air, water and open spaces for future generations. Environment Oregon also welcomes current contributions of personal property and assets. For more information call: 1-800-841-7299, or e-mail PlannedGiving@EnvironmentOregon.org

Planned giving

Oregon’s Energy Future 35%

Global Warming Solutions 23%

Protect Mt. Hood and Oregon’s Forests 17%

Protect Oregon: Fix Measure 37 17%

Clean Air, Water and Other 8%

Environment Oregon1536 SE 11th Avenue, Suite B Portland, OR 97214

Address Service Requested

Jeremiah BaumannAdvocate

John RumplerSenior Environmental Attorney

David RogersRegional Citizen Outreach Director

Jonathan JelenField Director

Environment Oregon staff(partial list)

Staff Photos: Jan Pelton, Cover Photo: Peter Kunasz*

*denotes copyright and used under license from Shutterstock.com

Vincent Rinehart Administrative Director

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