GEI has been in the news this March.

GEI and Sierra Club join together to file two separate amicus briefs arguing that processes overseen by the Public Utility Commission end in final orders that are subject to appeal.

Read about GEI’s work on HB 2021, wildfire liability, and post-California Restaurant Ass’n v. Berkeley pathways.

Read a helpful explanation of the Public Utility Commission’s order concluding Oregon’s electricity decarbonization law does not require the retirement of renewable energy certificates.

Watch the recording here.

Director and Staff Attorney Carra Sahler offered her thoughts about the effect on building decarb efforts after the Ninth Circuit’s decision invalidating Berkeley’s natural gas ban in buildings. Read the interview here.

Lewis & Clark’s Green Energy Institute has been awarded the Bob Olsen Memorial Conservation Eagle Award by the NW Energy Coalition.

Read GEI’s Newsletter summarizing some of its work this year.

GEI celebrated its Tenth Anniversary on Friday, September 15 by co-hosting  Northwest Energy Opportunities: Transportation Electrification, Markets, and Career Paths for New Lawyers.

Watch GEI’s staff attorney, Caroline Cilek, discuss the role RECs play with implementation of Oregon’s 100% Clean Energy for All legislation (HB 2021).

GEI’s Interim Director and Staff Attorney, Carra Sahler, served as a resource on two climate-related Oregonian stories.

NOTE: This Guide was published prior to the Ninth Circuit’s decision in California Restaurant Ass’n v. City of Berkeley, 65 F.4^th 1045, 1048 (9^th Cir. 2023), petition for reh’g en banc filed, No. 21-16278 (9^th Cir. May 31, 2023). Many, but not all, of the pathways remain viable. Please contact us for further information.

GEI and Breach Collective published Regulating Natural Gas in Oregon’s Buildings: A Guide for Local Governments. The Guide offers ten strategies, and the legal feasibility of each, available to local governments in Oregon who seek to curb or prevent natural gas (methane) emissions.

Northwest Energy Opportunities: Transportation Electrification, Markets, and Career Paths for New Lawyers on September 15, 2023.

To watch the one hour webinar, click here.

The Green Energy Institute (GEI) and Earthjustice celebrate victory while representing climate, environmental justice, and community-led social justice organizations in proceeding by Oregon regulators reviewing NW Natural’s request to raise gas bills.

While Oregon has made significant progress, the state is not on track to achieve its climate targets. GEI has developed an economy-wide climate policy roadmap for Oregon that identifies a suite of laws and policies that will enable the state to achieve its climate goals in an equitable and economical manner.

It includes key policies for reducing transportation sector emissions, reducing electricity sector emissions, building emissions, industrial sector emissions, and cross-sector emissions. 

Drafted by Amy Schlusser and Caroline Cilek, the report “is intended to reflect a balanced climate policy approach that is ambitious, cost-effective, equitable, and achievable.”  

To view the full suite of policies included in our decarbonization policy pathway, we encourage readers to explore our pathway within the EPS model. Energy Policy Solutions, GEI Oregon Decarbonization Policy Pathway,https://energypolicy.solutions/simulator/oregon/en?s=xjggfr3z. The link will launch the Oregon EPS and download the GEI pathway.

GEI Staff Attorney Carra Sahler partnered with Earthjustice attorneys to represent a coalition of environmental and community-based organizations who intervened to challenge NW Natural’s proposed general rate revision.

Professor Melissa Powers is recognized by peers as preeminent in the field of environmental law.

With the transportation sector rapidly shifting to electric vehicles, pressure is increasing in many states to reduce reliance on gas tax revenues as the primary source of highway funding. This impetus is particularly pronounced in Oregon, where the state’s reliance on gas taxes conflicts with the state’s ambitious climate goals. Unfortunately, Oregon’s constitution constrains the state’s authority to raise and spend motor vehicle-related revenues. GEI’s Building Bridges report provides a comprehensive analysis of article IX, section 3a of the Oregon Constitution and the restrictions it places on raising and using highway funds. The report explains how Oregon’s constitutional restrictions limit available pathways to raise revenue to advance equitable transportation decarbonization and respond to shifting transportation needs in Oregon. The report also provides a detailed legal analysis of the Oregon Supreme Court’s interpretations of the constitutional restrictions on and permissible uses of highway funds.

Legal experts and scholars discuss the impact–good and bad–of the CWA over five decades.

Thanks to the new Energy Policy Simulator (EPS) released by Energy Innovation, Oregon now has an incredibly useful modeling tool for policymakers to compare the outcomes and impacts from a wide variety of climate and energy policies. Try the tool here!

To watch the one hour and fifteen minute presentation, click here.

GEI Staff Attorney Amy Schlusser is one of 34 individuals advising the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality as it develops regulations to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In the Portland metropolitan area, pollution from diesel-fueled vehicles and engines presents a significant risk to public health and causes temperature increases that contribute to global climate change. GEI’s Deconstructing Diesel Law & Policy Roadmap aims to help local governments and community stakeholders better understand the legal frameworks and regulatory limitations local governments must navigate to effectively address diesel pollution. The Roadmap presents a variety of strategies local governments can implement to reduce diesel pollution from on-road, nonroad, and indirect sources in Portland and surrounding Multnomah County.

Renewable energy projects provided Oregon counties more than $120 million in direct tax revenue over the past four years and nearly $32 million in tax year 2017-2018 alone, according to our latest study, Renewable Energy & Direct Public Revenues in Oregon. Rural counties in Oregon were by far the greatest beneficiaries of this revenue: in the 2017-2018 tax year, Sherman County received more than $12.5 million, Gilliam County received more than $8.5 million, and Umatilla, Morrow, and Malheur Counties each received around $2.5 million in direct tax payments from renewable energy projects. Read the full report for more information.

Renewable energy projects provided Oregon counties more than $120 million in direct tax revenue over the past four years and nearly $32 million in tax year 2017-2018 alone. Rural counties in Oregon were by far the greatest beneficiaries of this revenue: in the 2017-2018 tax year, Sherman County received more than $12.5 million, Gilliam County received more than $8.5 million, and Umatilla, Morrow, and Malheur Counties each received around $2.5 million in direct tax payments from renewable energy projects. Read GEI’s Renewable Energy & Direct Public Revenue in Oregon to learn more about the effects of renewable energy development in Oregon.

Professor Benjamin is the newest member of the acclaimed Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program and is a globally recognized expert and scholar in energy, climate change, and corporate law—particularly as they intersect.

Thank You to LC Giving Day Contributors; Deconstructing Diesel Happy Hour a Success; Welcome to Our New Deputy Director; Updates from the March Meeting of the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission; and Reforming Oregon’s Electricity Regulatory Framework Blog Post on Recent Oregon Public Utility Commission Meeting

The Chronicle Magazine Features GEI in Headline Story: Renewable Hope; GEI Participates in U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge; Deconstructing Diesel Happy Hour on March 21, 5:00-7:30 PM; and  Charged Debate Blog Sheds Light on Renewables Regulation in the Trump Administration

Oregon has ambitious climate goals that call for the state to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and the state legislature and executive branch agencies have adopted a variety of climate and energy-related policies that aim to reduce Oregon’s climate impacts and support the transition toward renewable energy. Despite these efforts, however, Oregon is not currently on track to meet its long-term climate goals. GEI’s Taking Charge analysis explains why a comprehensive climate and energy governance framework is necessary to achieve meaningful progress in decarbonizing state and local economies, and presents a series of governance options that would support Oregon’s efforts to reduce emissions and transition to a clean energy system. 

A GEI policy report evaluating the effectiveness of Oregon’s existing climate laws and recommending that Oregon adopt a comprehensive climate policy framework to enable the state to reach its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. 

A GEI policy report by Amelia Reiver Schlusser assessing the grid reliability implications of the Clean Power Plan in the West, and recommending strategies to support reliability under high penetrations of variable renewable energy.

On January 28, the Green Energy Institute published a report, “Solar Building Standards: How American Cities Can Lay Foundations for a New Generation of Solar Development,” by staff attorney Nick Lawton. The report explains how solar building standards, which are local ordinances requiring solar power as a standard feature on new or renovated buildings, could offer significant benefits to many energy market stakeholders. Instead of relying on subsidies to entice investment from relatively affluent property owners, solar building standards would result in widespread solar development that keeps pace with construction and growing energy demand. At the same time, these new policies could lower costs of solar power, facilitate its integration into the energy grid, save property owners money, promote resilience to power outages, and allow utilities to develop business models that benefit from distributed solar arrays. The report describes the nation’s first two solar building standards, which were enacted in two California cities in 2013, and then offers design options that local governments should consider when adopting these policies. The report also explores possible arguments against solar building standards, which have dwindling merit as the economics of solar power continue to improve. The report concludes that as solar power’s costs of continue to decline and its benefits become increasingly clear, more local governments should give solar building standards strong consideration. 

For more information on this report, please contact Nick Lawton at nicklawton@lclark.edu. 

A recent Information Letter Request filed by an Austin, Texas homeowner with the IRS could have far-reaching, unanticipated consequences for value of solar tariffs. This post investigates some of those potential ramifications. 

Three U.S. cities—Burlington, VT, Greensburg, KS, and Beaverton, OR— are proving that the transition to a 100% renewable power grid is achievable in the near term. 

The first in a four-part series on community solar, this post describes the basic elements of community solar. Later posts will describe existing community solar models, describe projects and obstacles in Oregon, and propose how Oregon can further incentivize community solar.

Professor Powers has received a Fulbright Scholarship to study renewable energy policy in Denmark and Spain. This opening blog post discusses the scholarship and her areas of study.