Oregon Association of Nurseries, Daily Digger Blog, excerpts The Oregon Senate this morning approved two bills – one to raise corporate taxes and another to raise income taxes. Both were carried on a party line vote, 18 yes (all Democrats), 11 no (all Republicans) and one Republican not voting due […]

PacifiCorp customers face major rate hike in government energy takeover By Congressman Greg Walden: WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal legislation to reduce global warming by putting a price on carbon emissions from power plants will result in an 18 percent rate increase for PacifiCorp customers in Oregon during the bill’s first […]

Update on Current Policy News Affecting Forest Business & Timber Supply by Rex Storm, Forest Policy Manger Associated Oregon Loggers, Industry Exec Encourages Foresters: Allyn Ford, CEO of Roseburg Forest Products, addressed the Oregon Society of American Foresters annual conference April 29th in Canyonville.  Ford said that because the forest […]

Oregon Department of Forestry — While many of Oregon’s forest protection districts have not formally entered wildfire season, Nature made an unofficial declaration of its own during the past week. A barrage of more than 24,000 lightning strikes ignited fires across the central and southwestern regions of the state. The […]

OFS Legislative Report Oregonians for Food and Shelter WEEK  21: The Democrat leadership is working at warp speed to shut down the ’09 legislative session by June 30.  In other words, they have their minds made up on key issues like taxes and climate change.  Both could be extraordinarily expensive […]

Beware of S787 – if you think statewide land use is bad, wait until the Feds get involved By Dave Hunnicutt Oregonians In Action We have written in past weeks about S787, the so-called “Clean Water Restoration Act” that is working its way through Congress.  This dangerous bill would make […]

Solar Electric Power Association ranks PGE in top 10 utilities By Portland General Electric, Portland General Electric (PGE) (NYSE: POR) was recognized today by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) as a utility leader in the integration of solar into its generation portfolio.  In SEPA’s report issued today, the “2008 […]

American Farm Bureau, Meeting Chairman Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) Memorial Day recess deadline, the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 21 approved a climate change bill that ultimately would cap greenhouse gas emissions at 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. The measure also would create a cap-and-trade system and […]

By Oregon Association of Nurseries, The Oregon Legislature  approved a $300 million per year transportation package designed to upgrade roads statewide, create new capacity, and loosen bottlenecks that currently cost businesses time and money. The move was applauded by the Oregon Association of Nurseries as an important step towards helping […]

Senator Wyden’s “Oregon Forest Restoration and Old Growth Protection Act,” more aptly called the “Little-management and Forest Fire Destruction of Old Growth Act” By Rick Sohn, Umpqua Coquille LLC It’s no wonder neither the environmental groups nor the timber industry are happy with Senator Wyden’s proposed federal legislation.  Some say […]