Environment
Sharp divide emerges over proposal to increase spending on livestock killed by wolves
A proposal to add $1 million to a state fund that compensates farmers and ranchers who’ve lost livestock to wolves has drawn criticism from conservation and animal rights advocates, who’ve asked legislators to oppose it. House Bill 4127 would more than triple the amount of money in the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Wolf Depredation Compensation […]
Oregon’s long-overdue Private Forest Accord could set stage for climate change work
It’s been a long time since Oregonians first saw the words “private forest” and “accord” in the same document – more than 50 years in fact, since Oregon adopted its first-in-the nation Forest Practices Act in 1971. One year after that, with enactment of the federal Endangered Species Act, the terms of engagement on our […]
Lawmakers hear testimony on ways to provide relief from extreme heat, cold
Oregon lawmakers Wednesday heard testimony on two bipartisan proposals that would help low-income homeowners and renters pay for air conditioning and heat and find relief in extreme weather. The two bills respond to growing concerns that the June 2021 heat wave, where temperatures in parts of the state reached 118, could become more common. At […]
Portland State professor and team to get millions for wave energy testing off Oregon coast
The U.S. Department of Energy is putting $25 million into eight projects from teams across the country, including one in Oregon, that could advance technology to turn ocean waves into electricity. They’ll be the first round of projects tested at PacWave, a new wave-energy test facility off the coast of Newport that was developed by […]
State Energy Department exploring potential for floating offshore wind farms
Oregon joins California, Maine and countries such as Norway, Portugal and Japan in exploring a future of deep-water floating wind farms as a source of clean energy. The state Energy Department recently published a draft study looking into the challenges and benefits of generating up to three gigawatts of energy each year from deep-water floating […]
Thieves stealing water for grow operations could face tougher Oregon penalties
A bill from the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, and Water will tackle increasing instances of water theft for illegal cannabis operations in the state. State Rep. Ken Helm, D-Washington County, introduced the bill that would empower the director of the state Water Resources Department to seek court-issued search warrants to investigate water theft. […]
Forest Service in ‘paradigm shift’ to use logging, controlled burns to prevent wildfires
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration will announce Tuesday it is using $3 billion from last year’s infrastructure law to revamp the federal approach to wildfire management, introducing a 10-year plan to deal with the large swaths of the West scientists consider most at risk of destructive blazes. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, is […]
The Klamath Basin has two possible fates – a report explores where each takes the area
Here’s a recipe for concentrated depression. The embattled and seriously troubled Klamath Basin, a center of social and environmental pathologies for two decades and more, facing a future, three decades hence, where climate change could make conditions far worse. You could spin a dystopian novel from that. Or you could tell a more optimistic story. […]
DEQ fines Port of Morrow $1.3 million for ‘reckless’ pumping of nitrate-laced water on farms
State officials said Tuesday that the Port of Morrow in northeast Oregon for years has spread excessive amounts of nitrate-laced wastewater on area farmlands in a way that contaminates groundwater and was “reckless” in doing so. The state Department of Environmental Quality made that finding in announcing one of its largest pollution fines ever, levying […]
Oregon Department of Agriculture enforces new federal hemp rules for state growers
Hemp growers in the state will now need to abide by several new federal regulations that will be overseen by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The changes come at a time of growing concerns over illegal marijuana operations in parts of southern Oregon. Both hemp and marijuana are cannabis plants, similar in appearance and smell […]
Hazardous conditions curtail travel in parts of the state
Snow and ice are hammering parts of the state, while temperatures warm in others, creating a mix of hazardous driving conditions. “It’s a little bit of everything,” said Bobbi Doan, spokesperson for the Office of Emergency Management. “Where they don’t have snow and ice, they have heavy rain.” The office issued a warning to the […]
State doubles rebate on electric vehicles for low and moderate income Oregonians
Beginning this year, qualifying Oregonians will get higher rebates for buying an electric car or a plug-in hybrid. The Department of Environmental Quality announced this week that it has doubled the refund under a program for lower-income buyers from $2,500 to $5,000. Individuals have to earn less than $52,000 a year; the income cap for […]