Oregon legislature makes state's landscape greener

Today's Oregonian is taking notice of the landmark enviornmental and clean-energy laws passed by the 2007 Oregon legislature, led on the House side by Speaker Jeff Merkley:

The Legislature and Kulongoski maintain the new laws will aid both the environment and the economy. Already, the mix of mandates and incentives has helped spur development of more wind-power projects and ethanol and biodiesel plants, lawmakers say.

They point to Senate Bill 838, the "renewable energy standard," as the top energy accomplishment of the 2007 session. The bill requires the state's largest utilities to get one-quarter of their electricity from renewable energy, such as wind and solar, by 2025. Interim targets set the clean-energy contribution at 5 percent by 2011, 15 percent by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020.

The paper goes on to discuss legislation covering alternative fuels and higher efficiency appliances.

Jeff Merkley plans to take the environmental work he did in the Oregon legislature to the U.S. Senate for Oregon. You can view Jeff's broad ranging plan to curb global climate change on the Issues Page: Energy Independence and Conservation.

Posted December 31, 2007
In the News, Spotlight