Environmental Law

Western States Take New Steps on Greenhouse Gas, Vehicle Miles and Renewables

By Dennis Pfaff and Kevin Livingston, Editors

Led by Washington state, where the governor just signed a new law charting a path to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, Western states have made several recent moves on the climate change and renewable energy fronts.

Oregon and South Dakota put in place new laws to boost the renewable energy industry. Oregon’s statute is aimed at manufacturers of renewable energy equipment, while the South Dakota legislation gives breaks to wind energy facilities and transmission lines serving them.

The new Washington statute, signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, firms up goals established in a law passed last year and a 2007 executive order that would reduce Washington’s climate-related emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, the same as California’s AB 32. The Washington statute also sets goals for later years, including a 50 percent reduction below 1990 levels by 2050. (See here for text of 2007 law; the 2007 executive order; Gov. Gregoire's press release upon signing the 2008 legislation, House Bill 2815, into law and the full text of the 2008 statute, as well as a legislative analysis.)

The new law directs the Washington Department of Ecology to come up with plans for reaching the targets by Dec. 1. It also sets specific benchmarks for reducing vehicle miles traveled in the state, with an ultimate goal of cutting the figure in half by 2050. Additionally, it directs the state to try to develop 25,000 green sector jobs through a variety of means, including new or expanded incentives. The legislation also tells state officials to work with the Western Climate Initiative, a multi-state effort, to reduce emissions across the West. The initiative is currently working on plans to set up a market mechanism, such as a cap-and-trade system, by late this summer.  

Gregoire, in her statement at the time she signed the bill, touted what she viewed as its economic potential:

“This is another example of Washington leading the way on climate change by being clean, green and competitive. Because we are acting now, we will capitalize on unique and exciting economic opportunities and increase our competitive edge in the world economy.”

Oregon’s new legislation, signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, allows tax credits of up to $40 million, and it also seeks to expand the state’s green economy. It includes provisions that would force officials to reduce or eliminate tax incentives under certain circumstances, including a determination that a business was unlikely to base a decision to locate to the state because of the credits, if a facility won’t produce a lot of new jobs, or if the state's revenues fall below certain benchmarks. (See Kulongoski’s announcement of the bill signing and full text and a staff analysis of the measure, House Bill 3619.)

The South Dakota legislation exempts wind energy facilities with a capacity of five megawatts or more from all state and local property taxes, replacing the revenue with a $3-per-kilowatt tax on capacity plus 2 percent of gross receipts. Developers can also get substantial rebates on transmission and other facilities serving the wind projects amounting to up to 90 percent of the taxes paid for the first five years. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed the bill earlier this month. (See Rounds’ bill signing announcement and the full text of the legislation, House Bill 1320.)  

(Above: Gov. Chris Gregoire, official portrait)       

Full post as published by Climate Law Update on March 21, 2008 (boomark / email).