Today is truly an amazing day for Oregon’s environment as two significant and complex bills passed out of the legislature and are headed to the Governor’s desk.

Taking a major step in combating global warming, the legislature passed SB 838, which establishes one of the most aggressive Renewable Energy Standards in the country.  The major victory came Wednesday, when SB 838 passed the Oregon House with a final vote of 41-18.  Today, the Senate concurred with the House amendments with a vote of 22-6.  The significant support for SB 838 underscores the major effort expended by OCN member groups to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders to lobby on behalf of this aggressive legislation.

The passage of this bill means that by 2025, 25% of Oregon's electrical power needs will be met by new renewable energy sources. This is the most significant move Oregon has yet made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address global warming.

Today also marked an historic day where, after 36 long years, the Oregon Legislature finally passed legislation expanding Oregon’s landmark Bottle Bill to include water bottles. As much as any other piece of legislation, the Bottle Bill defines how we Oregonians think of ourselves and our environment and is the single most effective recycling program in American history.  SB 707 will go a long way in increasing our overall recycling rate for beverage containers and will address the largest growing segment of empty containers that Oregonians currently aren’t recycling.

Many of you have complained that SB 707 doesn’t go far enough.  We are hopeful that the Bottle Bill Task Force will address many of the elements that were left on the table this session. In the end, SB 707 survived despite intense lobbying on behalf of some grocers to kill it.  The final vote in the House was 42-16, which followed the Senate vote of 23-7.

Looking forward, this week marks the week where the floodgates open and a number of our priority bills are coming to fruition.  Let’s all enjoy the weekend, and get back to it on Tuesday!