News

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  Deconstructing Diesel: A Law & Policy Roadmap
  August 5

  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.

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  Deconstructing Diesel Concise Guide
  April 30
  GEI’s Deconstructing Diesel Guide is a condensed version of our Deconstructing Diesel Law & Policy Roadmap, which 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 at the local level. The Guide outlines a variety of strategies local governments can implement to reduce diesel pollution from local sources. This Guide is intended to provide a concise, user-friendly overview of the legal and policy issues surrounding diesel emissions regulation.
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  Successful PURPA Implementation in Oregon
  February 21
  A PowerPoint Presentation presented to the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) on January 31, 2019, by GEI director Melissa Powers. GEI encouraged the PUC to view PURPA as a tool to enable ambitious, innovative, efficient renewable energy development in the state.
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  The Risks of Unlimited Banked Allowances in a Cap-and-Trade Program
  March 18
  A brief three-page document on the potential pitfalls of incorporating banking without limits in a cap-and-trade program.
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  Renewable Energy & Direct Public Revenue in Oregon
  January 21

  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.

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  Deconstructing Diesel: Legal Strategies for Reducing Harmful Diesel Emissions in Oregon
  April 4
  A Power Point presentation prepared by Professor Melissa Powers, GEI staff attorney Amy Schlusser, and GEI Energy Law Fellows Lev Blumenstein and Natascha Smith summarizing regulatory and policy recommendations to reduce harmful diesel emissions in the Portland metropolitan area. This research was presented to the public during a March 21, 2018 event, Deconstructing Diesel Happy Hour, co-hosted by Neighbors for Clean Air.
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  Taking Charge: Developing an Effective Climate and Energy Governance Framework for Oregon
  November 13

  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. 

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  Oregon’s Solar Future
  June 19
  Oregon’s Solar Future is a detailed background report on The Oregon Solar Plan, which establishes a blueprint for getting 10% of Oregon’s electricity from solar power in ten years. Oregon’s Solar Future provides an in-depth look at the current status of solar energy in Oregon and explains how the state can realistically deploy enough solar capacity to provide 10% of Oregon’s electricity by 2027. 
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  The Oregon Solar Plan
  June 19
  Oregon can realistically get 10% of its electricity from solar power within the next ten years. GEI worked with the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association to develop the Oregon Solar Plan, which establishes a blueprint for deploying 4 gigawatts of solar PV capacity in Oregon between 2017 and 2027—enough solar capacity to power 500,000 homes and provide 10% of the state’s electricity.
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  Countdown to 2050: Sharpening Oregon’s Climate Action Tools
  November 30

  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. 

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  Renewable, Reliable, Resilient: Policy Approaches for Maintaining Reliability in the Western Grid Under the Clean Power Plan
  October 7

  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.

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  Solar Building Standards: How American Cities Can Lay Foundations for a New Generation of Solar Development
  February 5
  A GEI report by Nick Lawton
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  A Safe Bet: How Least-Risk Resource Planning Can Pave the Way for Renewable Energy
  January 13
  A GEI report by Amelia Reiver Schlusser
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  Residential Energy Tax Credit Benefits Factsheet
  July 19
  GEI’s new analysis of Oregon’s Residential Energy Tax Credit shows significant benefits across Oregon and among different communities between 2013 and 2015.
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  Professor Young’s op-ed piece on Syria published on The Huffington Post
  September 15
  Professor of History Elliott Young’s opinion piece, titled “We Can Do More for Syrian Refugees” appears in the September 15, 2015 edition of The Huffington Post.
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  Biology Professor’s Inspiring Scientific American Essay
  May 28
  “In my own lab, I have witnessed a powerful impact on students when they look directly into the zebrafish brain for the first time. It opens a window of curiosity that can inspire undergraduate scientists, who will ultimately develop new approaches and become the next generation of cutting-edge researchers,” Weissman writes in Scientific American. Read the whole essay.
  
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  Sociology Professor Shares Microfinance Research in The Baffler
  March 18
  Associate Professor of Sociology Maryann Bylander’s article “A Conflict of Interest” was recently published in The Baffler, a cultural and political journal. Focusing on the flaws of development and microfinance in Cambodia, the article is one of many ways Bylander is bringing her research findings to audiences beyond the academic sphere.
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  PEAC Fall 2011 Newsletter
  October 27
  Topics include the Boardman settlement, PEAC’s new class, California condors, and the CRC.
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  Washington Post Features Professor Yin Explainer on Terrorism
  June 19
  Professor Tung Yin, whose academic specialties are national security law and terrorism, sheds light on how the federal government defines terrorism.
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  Alumna Christy Hale, MAT ’80, illustrates Ansel Adam’s life
  May 17
  You may be familiar with Adams’s iconic black-and-white nature photographs. But do you know about the artist who created these images?
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  Alumna Vicky Allen (Zander), MEd ’73, publishes American Sign Language as a Bridge to English
  May 17
  American Sign Language as a Bridge to English is a guide for hearing teachers of hearing students to use ASL as a ‘bridge’ to learning English as a foreign language.
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  Rhodes Scholar Takes on Climate Change in Top Science Journal
  October 20
  Rhodes Scholar Tamma Carleton BA ’09 has progressed from earning her bachelor’s degree in economics to publishing original research in the premiere global science weekly. Her newest work connects climate change to societal impacts.
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  Student Commentary: Dayna Jones, 2L, writes about the Dakota Access Pipeline
  October 6
  Second-year law student Dayna Jones discusses the intersection of law and environmental justice concerning the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and the Dakota Access Pipeline as a guest columnist for Jurist.org.
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  Young Alumni Dig Into Campaign Finance Enforcement in Newly Published Research
  September 12
  Campaign finance reform is not a topic for the faint of heart. But recent graduates Maya Gold BA ’14 and Walker Davis BA ’15 are intrepid researchers, and the result of their labors is an academic paper, just published in Election Law Journal, that explores the often-convoluted world of Oregon’s campaign finance laws.
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  It’s “Fair Use Week”! Read copyright law professor Lydia Loren’s guest blog
  February 25
  Professor Lydia Loren guest blogs for Authors Alliance during “Fair Use Week”
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  Teaching Climate Change
  April 13
  Tim Swinehart M.A.T. ’05 takes on climate change in a new book for teachers.
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  Teaching Climate Change
  April 6
  Alumnus and adjunct professor Tim Swinehart takes on climate change in a new book for teachers.
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  Alumna shares new work during Poetry Press Week
  December 2
  New work by Natalie Garyet B.A. ’10 will be presented at Portland’s Poetry Press Week, an event modeled after the fashion industry’s semiannual Fashion Week showcase.
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  Professor heads to Scottish castle for prestigious writing fellowship
  November 12
  As the recipient of a prestigious fellowship at the International Retreat for Writers at Hawthornden Castle, Associate Professor of English Pauls Toutonghi will spend four weeks in residency working on his next book, The Lost Ocean.
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  GEI Comments on Seventh Power Plan Methodology
  October 31
  Staff Attorney Nick Lawton recently submitted comments for the Green Energy Institute regarding the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s methodology for calculating environmental costs and benefits of energy sources for the Seventh Power Plan.