Having worked as both a grower and processor, Verne Gingerich has a fully integrated view of Northwest hazelnut production.

The industry’s relatively small size allows for effective communication, which has allowed it to thrive, Gingerich said upon accepting the 2017 Nut Grower of the Year award during the Nut Growers Society’s Jan. 18 annual meeting in Corvallis, Ore.

“We’re in a good industry and I hope we keep it that way,” said Gingerich, who farms near Canby, Ore.

Gingerich credited his father, Richard, with the foresight to begin cultivating hazelnuts, which have bestowed many blessings on the family.

Aside from growing hazelnuts, Gingerich also worked for the Northwest Hazelnut Co. and eventually became a partner in the processing company in the 1990s.

Though he’s since sold his interest to the George Packing Co., Gingerich continues to run a receiving station for hazelnuts.

While operating the processing company, Gingerich had a keen sense of where the markets were heading and how the industry should position itself, said Lisa Pascoe, office manager for Northwest Hazelnut Co., who presented him with the award.

As a farmer, Gingerich is always eager to share his knowledge with others, Pascoe said. “He is always a huge asset for those he helps.”

In the past, Gingerich served five years on the Nut Growers Society’s board, including a stint as president in 1990, in addition to his involvement with the Oregon Hazelnut Marketing Board.

Gingerich also sits on a committee that advises the Oregon Department of Agriculture about shipping point inspections and is involved with local firefighting agencies.

The Port of Portland’s container facility must diversify since it’s unlikely to become self-sustaining by focusing solely on handling containers, according to a consultant’s report.

To break even financially, the port’s Terminal 6 would need to move nearly 200,000 containers a year — more than the facility ever handled even during its heyday, the report said.

By bringing in additional business lines that would subsidize container operations, the facility could reach break even by moving fewer than 150,000 containers a year.

“It’s got to be a part of a bigger entity and supported by the other activities the port is involved in,” said Nolan Gimpel, project manager for the Advisian consulting company, which prepared the report.

Agricultural exporters once relied on the container terminal to get straw and other farm goods shipped to Asia, but ocean carriers stopped calling on the facility in 2015 and 2016 due to labor productivity problems.

The Port of Portland has since mended its relationship with the longshoremen’s union, which it hopes will improve productivity, but other challenges remain formidable.

Terminal 6 regularly handled more than 150,000 containers during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the shipping industry has changed dramatically in recent years, Advisian’s report said.

Newly-built container ships are mostly too large to serve the inland port, while ocean carriers have consolidated and are reluctant to travel the added distance to Terminal 6, Gimpel said during a recent meeting of Port of Portland’s commission.

Three major “alliances” of ocean carrier companies now control about 87 percent of the trans-Pacific Ocean container market, he said.

The port should try to partner with one of the smaller independent companies that control the remaining 13 percent, since they’re able to fill a niche and make decisions more quickly, Gimpel said.

“To get to sustainability is going to take a while, and it’s not an easy task,” he said.

Other minor ports, such as San Diego and Philadelphia, have been able to sustain a profitable container business, but their situation isn’t neatly analogous to Portland’s, he said.

“What do they have that we don’t have? In all of those cases, those ports are much, much closer to a huge population base,” Gimpel said.

The Port of Portland expects to know within about three years whether Terminal 6 can remain competitive or whether the market passed it by, said Keith Leavitt, the port’s chief commercial officer.

There are opportunities to create new business at the container terminal, such as facilitating trade between North and South America, which typically relies on smaller ships than trans-Pacific trade, Leavitt said.

“We should be able to compete for those,” he said. “Those vessels are a good fit for the Columbia river.”

Handling “break bulk” cargo, such as imported steel slabs from Russia that aren’t containerized, is another potential business line, Leavitt said. Vessels that carry such slabs don’t require as deep a draft as larger container vessels.

The facility will soon be serviced by ocean vessels from Swire, which will handle trucks and break bulk cargo, and it’s already opened a transmodal truck-to-rail facility that ships export products to Puget Sound ports.

Adding new business ventures to the 420-acre Terminal 6 won’t require major capital investment, Leavitt said. “We’re in good shape from an infrastructure standpoint.”

LONDON (AP) — A British coroner is awaiting the results of tests to determine what killed The Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan.

Music can be a powerful thing. The Gray family recently learned this firsthand when their two children bonded over singing. Bo Gray, 2, has Down syndrome. He was also born with several heart and lung conditions, and has already been…

Cannabis trade associations in Oregon, Washington and California are banding together to “protect West Coast cannabis interests.”

Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded what was known as the Cole Memo. It was an Obama-era legal memo that allowed states to legalize cannabis with minimal interference from federal authorities.

Amy Margolis with the Oregon Cannabis Association said they were planning to join forces with other West Coast associations before the memo was rescinded. “But this certainly accelerated our timeline and made this announcement even more important.”

“With all of the West Coast states having legalized adult-use cannabis, our organizations strongly believe that we must move towards a collaborative process to ensure that we maximize our political power, offer our members the most comprehensive benefits possible and stand together against existential federal threats,” said Margolis.

The three associations will share strategies for legalizing marijuana at the federal level. Margolis said they have three main goals: “One, to share strategy and information. Two, to share resources when it’s appropriate. And three, to put forward a united front to the federal government.”

The group says it plans to coordinate lobbying efforts. So instead of 40 Oregonians visiting Washington, D.C., a trip might involve 100 advocates from up and down the West Coast.

“With more than 1,000 combined business members, who collectively employ thousands and generate millions and millions in tax revenue, represented by this new relationship, we will be the largest and most powerful voice for the West Coast,” said Lindsay Robinson from the California Cannabis Industry Association.

Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer called the initiative an exciting, important and historic development.

“Responsible leaders in the industry working together is exactly how we will change destructive and nonsensical federal policies and set things right,” he said.

Sessions says marijuana is a dangerous drug and dealing it is a serious crime.

SALEM — Corban University, a private Christian college on the outskirts of Salem, Ore., is poised to add classes in agribusiness next fall, which school officials hope will plant the seed for a full agricultural sciences degree in the future.

University President Sheldon Nord will make the official announcement Friday evening during the SAIF Agribusiness Banquet at the Salem Convention Center.

“We’re very excited about the agribusiness concentration,” Nord said. “Not only will it allow us to make the best possible use of our resources — not the least of which is our location in the Willamette Valley — but it’s going to equip our students to meet the needs of the marketplace.”

Agribusiness will be offered as a concentration under the Hoff School of Business. Griff Lindell, the business school dean, said they are looking for 15 students to launch the program in August.

“This concentration is going to be an exceptional complement to the business concentrations we already offer,” Lindell said. “It’s an exciting time for the agriculture industry, and an exciting time for Corban.”

Corban University is now the only private Christian college with an agricultural program west of the Rockies.

The Hoff School of Business already provides concentrations in accounting, marketing, leadership and management and sports and recreation business. Agribusiness will become the fifth concentration at the school, and though the curriculum is still being finalized, Lindell said it will include courses in agricultural marketing, commodity markets and food pricing.

The concentration will also require six credits of internship at companies along the agricultural value chain, from farms and ranches to food processing and technology.

Lindell said there is a growing need for qualified graduates in agriculture. He cited statistics that, by 2020, companies will need to fill a projected 57,000 agricultural jobs, with 46 percent of those in management and business.

“So it makes sense to have a new concentration where we provide the workplace with 15, 20, 30 students a year in the agriculture value chain,” he said.

The ultimate goal, Lindell said, is for Corban to introduce its own college of agricultural studies, with full majors in agribusiness, agricultural science and agricultural missions — a combination of science, entrepreneurship and inter-cultural communications to help feed the world.

The university completed a feasibility report on building the new school in 2016, and recently purchased an additional 78 acres contiguous to campus. But first, Lindell said they are focused on the agribusiness concentration, which if successful, could develop into its own major and lead to a full college likely sometime after 2022.

“That’s still the goal,” Lindell said. “The first step toward that is to do a concentration within the Hoff School of Business.”

Established in 1935, Corban University now has a total enrollment of 1,140 students, including 997 undergraduates. It is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

After years of whispers and reported sightings, wildlife officials have confirmed at least two wolves caught on trail cameras earlier this month roaming the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon’s northern Cascade Mountains.

It is the first time multiple wolves were detected in the area since the species returned to Oregon in the late 1990s. Conservationists cheered the news Wednesday, while local ranchers anticipated further conflict with their livestock.

Because they are located west of highways 395, 78 and 95, management of the wolves falls to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wolves remain a federally listed endangered species in Western Oregon.

John Stephenson, wildlife biologist and Oregon wolf coordinator for the USFWS, said the presence of wolves near Mount Hood comes as no surprise. For years, Stephenson said there have been frequent wolf sightings and documentation of dispersers from other packs in northeast Oregon.

“Now there’s two, and they’ve been there for a while now,” Stephenson said. “We’ll probably attempt to get a collar on one of them at some point and collect scat so we can figure out where they came from.”

Josh Laughlin, executive director of the Eugene-based environmental group Cascadia Wildlands, said it is heartening to see gray wolves continuing to reoccupy historic territories across the Northwest after they were nearly exterminated.

“It also underscores the need to maintain safeguards for this unique species that continues to be under fire by special interest groups and politicians,” Laughlin said. “It is imperative that protections are upheld for the gray wolf as it continues its remarkable recovery in the region.”

Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said the group is very concerned about the establishment of wolves on the west side of Oregon.

“We’re just beginning to see the conflicts that are going to be happening,” Rosa said. “These wolves are apex predators. I think a lot of folks, particularly on the west side who make policy on wildlife issues, don’t realize how aggressive and how deadly these wolves are.”

Most recently, the Rogue pack in southwest Oregon was responsible for preying on cattle three times in eight days at the same ranch in south of Prospect. Rosa said the problems between wolves and livestock will only continue to escalate.

Keith Nantz, a cattle rancher near Maupin, said Wasco County established a wolf compensation committee several years ago in anticipation for when the predators arrived. With the species listed as federally endangered, he said that leaves producers with few options other than non-lethal deterrents to protect their herds.

“I’m pretty upset about not having the control to protect our livelihood and our private property,” he said.

In the meantime, Rosa urged ranchers to make sure they report any suspected livestock predation to state and wildlife authorities.

“We know that it’s difficult for them, but we need them to notify when there is a predation that occurs,” Rosa said. “Some of them are frustrated enough that they don’t want to take the time and the effort to do it ... But we need to have those continued depredations reported so that we can be able to help them.”

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska and Hawaii attorneys general asked Congress to change laws so marijuana businesses can start using banks.

Alaska’s Jahna Lindemuth and Hawaii’s Doug Chin were among 19 attorneys general who urged U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to move forward with legislation that would allow the marijuana businesses to stop working as cash only operations.

Chin said banks and other institutions are hindered by U.S. law from working with marijuana businesses. This creates a cash-only, “grey market” that hurts law enforcement and tax collections, he said.

The proposed legislation would provide a safe harbor for banks and other institutions that work with the marijuana industry. The officials said their legislation would protect public safety and result in billions of dollars being infused into the banking industry.

“Allowing banks to work with these businesses is good policy, which is why the concept has bipartisan support,” Lindemuth said.

The officials said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ policy change earlier this month intensified the need for national legislation that clarifies how marijuana should be regulated and policed.

Sessions rescinded the 2013 Cole Memo, which deferred to states on enforcing marijuana laws.

“Despite the contradictions between federal and state law, the marijuana industry continues to grow rapidly,” the letter from the state attorney generals said. “Our banking system must be flexible enough to address the needs of businesses in the various states, with state input, while protecting the interests of the federal government.”

The letter was sponsored by Hawaii, Alaska, District of Columbia and North Dakota. It was signed by California, Colorado, Connecticut, Guam, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington state.

KENNEWICK, Wash. — The Washington-Oregon Potato Conference trade show continues to grow each year, organizers say.

When the conference expanded into the Toyota Center next door, organizers were able to accommodate a waiting list of exhibitors that had grown to 50, said Dale Lathim, chairman of the conference trade show. But now the list is growing again, he said.

The conference is Jan. 23-25 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Wash.

The conference even got rid of some larger spaces for big equipment to fit more booths.

“We’re accommodating more vendors who are clamoring to be in the show, and we’re trying to include as many of them as possible,” Lathim said. “Our limiting factor is space. If for some reason we were able to have more space, we could put at least the 50 on the waiting list, and there’s others I’m sure that would want to get in that just don’t even bother because they know how far they’d be down on the waiting list.”

The conference prioritizes the waiting list based on direct involvement in the potato industry, and gives extra points to anything new and innovative, Lathim said. Several companies will feature drones and drone technology this year.

“If you’ve got something that’s not being exhibited already, especially this new technology, you’re going to move probably right to the top of the list,” he said.

The organizers try to accommodate as many exhibitors as possible, Lathim said.

The conference has 177 exhibitors this year.

Lathim said the conference hopes to draw 2,000 people, about the same number as last year. Attendees come from the Northwest, elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada, and from nations such as Brazil and China.

“In my opinion, our show is one of, if not the best, source of information from a potato standpoint that you’ll find in any other conference in the world,” Lathim said. “Because the Columbia Basin is the premier potato-growing region in the world, they’re coming to see what we’re doing that maybe they can take back and improve their operations in their area.”

The general session focuses on growers, he said, while other seminars may look at different aspects of the industry.

Photographer Paul Mobley delivers the keynote speech at 11 a.m. Jan. 24, titled “American Farmer: Heart of Our Country.”

“We think that every year it gets better,” Lathim said of the conference. “This year should be no different: This one should be the best ever.”

BANDON - Verizon Wireless in the Bandon Shopping Center will host its grand opening event from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 19, 20 and 21, and the public is invited.

Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the beloved ’90s band the Cranberries, has died at the age of 46. The Irish musician was found dead in her hotel room in London, where she was in town for a recording session. The…

Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the beloved ’90’s band the Cranberries, has died at the age of 46. The Irish musician was found dead in her hotel room in London, where she was in town for a recording session. The…

Oregon water regulators have apparently stopped allowing the transfer of stored water among reservoirs, which irrigators hope will be rectified with upcoming legislation.

The problem was recently encountered by the Tumalo Irrigation District, which aimed to transfer storage water rights to enhance habitat for the threatened Oregon spotted frog and improve the function of its water distribution system.

By piping irrigation canals, the district is conserving water from its Crescent Lake reservoir that could then be transferred to an instream use in the Deschutes River, increasing stream flows for the frog, said Ken Rieck, the district’s manager.

Transferring stored water into the river would also generate credits allowing for groundwater pumping, which could be sold to raise money for additional piping projects, he said.

Aside from transfers to instream uses, the district wants to move water from the Tumalo reservoir into several smaller ponds that would help regulate water pressure, Rieck said.

Just as flushing a toilet can cause a home’s other water outlets to lose pressure, water diversion by a large irrigator can reduce pressure to lateral lines in a water system, he said.

Water transferred for storage in nearby ponds, however, can be pumped into the system to offset this loss in pressure, Rieck said. “We’re trying to bring our efficiency way up and this is the way to do that.”

Historically, the Oregon Water Resources Department has permitted the transfer of stored water among reservoirs, as well as the transfer of stored water to instream uses, said Elizabeth Howard, an attorney representing the district.

Over the past year or so, however, the agency has ceased approving such requests, seemingly due to a changed legal interpretation by the Oregon Department of Justice, Howard said.

It’s unclear what prompted the change, but the situation may be resolved with the Irrigation Storage Efficiency Act, which would clarify OWRD’s authority to approve such transfers.

The bill is expected to be introduced during the upcoming legislative session in February by Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, who recently spoke in favor of the “legislative concept” during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Capital Press was unable to reach OWRD for comment as of press time.

Each transfer application would “stand or fail on its own merits,” as the legislation does not create any “shortcuts” to approval under the OWRD’s standard process, said Rieck.

The clarification would restore water management flexibility not only in the Tumalo Irrigation District but also in other areas that have similar needs, said Howard.

“The plain fact is it has a pretty significant impact on districts and irrigators who thought they had all these tools in their toolbox,” she said.

Federal wildlife officials are working to protect cattle at a southwest Oregon ranch after wolves from the nearby Rogue pack killed three calves in eight days in the same fenced pasture.

The attacks are also renewing calls from the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association to change how wolves are managed on the west side of the state, where the animals remain listed as endangered.

All three kills occurred at the Mill-Mar Ranch south of Prospect in Jackson County, which lies in the middle of Rogue wolfpack territory. John Stephenson, wildlife biologist and Oregon wolf coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the pack had visited the ranch for years without preying on livestock.

That changed Thursday, Jan. 4, when investigators confirmed the pack was responsible for killing a 500-pound calf. Two more incidents were confirmed Wednesday, Jan. 10, and Thursday, Jan. 11.

“It’s something we’re very concerned about,” Stephenson said. “We can’t just trust anymore that (wolves) are going to come visit and not cause problems. Things have changed in that regard.”

In each case, GPS-collar data from OR-54 — a member of the Rogue pack — showed the wolf was nearby when the calves were killed. Biologists collared OR-54 in October 2017 to help track and learn more about the pack.

The Rogue pack was established in 2014, when the famous wandering wolf OR-7 and his mate had their first litter of pups. OR-54, an 80-pound female, is believed to be directly related to OR-7. Stephenson said he believes the pack now has between seven and 12 individual wolves, with a territory that covers parts of Jackson County and neighboring Klamath County to the east.

Rancher Ted Birdseye said he was aware wolves were present in the area when he purchased the Mill-Mar Ranch two years ago. In a recent interview with the Capital Press, Birdseye said he was growing concerned about chronic predation.

“I hope (wolves) don’t come in once a week over the next few months,” he said. “There’s nothing I can really do about it.”

Gray wolves are listed as a federally endangered species west of highways 395, 78 and 95. East of the highways, wolves were removed from the state endangered species list in 2015, enabling ranchers and wildlife officials to shoot wolves in certain situations to prevent or deter repeated attacks on livestock.

Last year, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife authorized kill orders for members of the Harl Butte pack in Wallowa County, as well as the Meacham pack in Umatilla County. Stephenson, with the USFWS, said lethal control will not be considered for the Rogue pack.

“We’re still looking to try an effective deterrent that keeps them out of the pasture,” Stephenson said. “We’re not looking at anything beyond that at this point.”

Stephenson said deterrents may include some combination of fladry, electric fencing and increased human presence to haze wolves from the area. In fact, Stephenson had just arrived at the ranch Jan. 10 to help replace fladry when he discovered the second dead calf.

After the third calf was killed, Stephenson remained at the ranch in his truck, with a spotlight and shotgun to haze wolves should they return.

“It did appear Thursday night that they were coming back to the ranch that evening, and then redirected,” Stephenson said. “I think it’s likely they were coming down and saw my headlights, spotlight and human activity, and took off and went somewhere else.”

Steve Pedery, conservation director of the environmental group Oregon Wild, said the organization has spoken several times with Birdseye and offered to provide financial assistance or volunteer labor for non-lethal deterrents.

“We’re hopeful we can get past the immediate situation,” Pedery said.

The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, however, is looking for broader changes in western Oregon wolf management to protect ranchers and livestock.

Rogue Valley rancher Veril Nelson serves as co-chairman for the OCA wolf committee, focused on western Oregon wolves. He said the association would eventually like to see the species delisted, but knows that may be a lengthy battle in court.

“It could be years and years and years before the courts make decisions and go through with appeals,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the association is also working on changing the rules for endangered species that would allow ranchers to kill wolves caught in the process of attacking livestock, or agencies to authorize killing wolves that repeatedly attack livestock similar to how they do in eastern Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

“Once wolves start preying on livestock, they tend to continue,” he said.

With just a few dozen known wolves in western Oregon, Pedery said he is frustrated by the notion of delisting the species. He added he has been impressed by Birdseye, who seems genuinely interested in trying new solutions.

“We’re eager to work with him,” Pedery said.

ODFW estimated there were at least 113 known wolves statewide at the end of 2016. An updated population estimate is expected to be released in March.

LONDON (AP) — The death of The Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan is not being treated as suspicious, British police said Tuesday. A friend said the singer sounded excited and "full of life" just hours before her death.

Colin Parry, the father of an IRA bomb victim, has paid tribute to Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan, who died on Monday (15.01.17).

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Laws in Idaho and Washington that allow people to salvage roadkill have yielded some benefits, according to wildlife officials in both states.

Idaho and Washington have passed laws allowing people to salvage roadkill, provided they fill out a short form with the state wildlife agency to get a permit.

Washington’s law, which took effect July 1, 2016, allows for deer and elk only, The Spokesman-Review reported. Between then and the end of 2017, 3,099 animals were salvaged off Washington roads, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

Idaho’s law, which took effect six years ago, is much broader, listing nearly 50 species of mammals and birds as salvageable. Most animals are fair game, provided they’re not endangered, threatened or otherwise protected by federal or state law.

Deer and elk top the list in Idaho. But Idaho residents have also hauled away 419 moose, 55 black bears, 51 wild turkeys and 39 beavers since the law went into effect.

Under a law passed last year, Oregon will begin allowing permit holders to salvage roadkill in 2019.

Salvagers don’t have to say what they intend to do with the animal. Gregg Servheen, the wildlife program coordinator at Idaho Fish and Game, said salvagers, in addition to eating, may be practicing taxidermy, looking for hides to display, gathering items for crafts or regalia or making their own fishing lures.

Idaho’s roadkill data is more detailed than Washington’s, with a greater variety of species and occasional notes from the salvager. The species is often a best guess from the salvager.

In Washington and Idaho, the locations of salvaged animals are reported by the people who take them home. People fill out the permit form online and have the option of clicking a point on a map or listing a highway and milepost.

Most of the animals end up along highways and major roads, as well as along smaller roads traveling through national forest land. Mapping Idaho’s roadkill produces a scattering of dots across Montana, Alberta and Oregon. Washington’s extends into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Aberdeen.

Wildlife officials in both states say they haven’t seen negative impacts from the law on other wildlife populations. Health districts haven’t complained, either.

Their hope is that having fewer carcasses sitting alongside the road will prompt raptors and scavengers to stay away. That might mean people see fewer eagles in the wild, but it doesn’t mean they’re not there.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon lawmakers are considering a major change in how the state will go about reducing its contributions to climate change.

Right now, there’s nothing to stop a lot of Oregon businesses from pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The Clean Energy Jobs Bill introduced last week would launch a cap and trade system that would limit some of those emissions and charge businesses for the right to pollute.

The system would be similar to existing programs in California and some Canadian provinces.

The state would set a cap on total greenhouse emissions, and about 100 companies in the state’s largest industries would be required to buy pollution permits to cover their emissions.

The bill requires permits for any business that emits more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. That includes a variety of large manufacturers, paper mills, fuel distributors and utilities.

Over time, the cap on emissions will come down and there will be fewer pollution permits available. So companies will have to reduce their emissions, spend more on permits or buy credits to offset their emissions.

This system would create a new marketplace for pollution credits that companies can buy and sell. It would be designed to link up with existing markets in California and Canadian provinces, so a company in Oregon could buy pollution credits from a business in California.

It also creates a market for offset projects, so a forest landowner in Oregon could sell the carbon sequestration credits from not cutting down trees. Buying an offset credit may be a cheaper option for companies that need to reduce their emissions or buy a pollution permit.

Creators of the bill call it a “cap and invest” program because the state could make an estimated $700 million a year from selling pollution permits. That money would then be invested in projects that expand public transit, solar power, electric vehicles and home energy efficiency upgrades that will help reduce the state’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill mandates reductions down to 80 percent of 1990 emission levels by 2050. Supporters say that’s the only way the state is ever going to meet its targets for reducing carbon emissions. Right now, the state is way behind on the climate goals it set in 2007.

“That’s what brings urgency to this,” said state Sen. Michael Dembrow, who helped create the bill as the chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. “It’s very clear we’re not going to get there if we don’t have the discipline of a program that sets a cap each year and gradually brings us down.”

Environmental groups point to California’s cap and trade program and its recent renewal as proof that this kind of system can reduce emissions and generate revenue without hurting the economy.

A lot of industries are opposed to a cap and trade system in Oregon because they say it will inevitably raise prices for all kinds of energy, which affects businesses as well as the cost of living for everyday people.

Oregon Business & Industry, the Oregon Farm Bureau and Northwest Food Processors Association, which together represent thousands of businesses across the state, have all spoken out against the Clean Energy Jobs Bill.

“This legislation is harmful to farmers and ranchers in Oregon because it increases our cost of production and makes us less competitive,” said Jenny Dresler of the Oregon Farm Bureau. “Raising the price of gas, electricity and natural gas on everybody will simply make it harder for Oregon family farms to survive to the next generation.”

The bill is designed to address some of these concerns by setting revenue aside to help low-income families, displaced workers and rural areas adapt to the new policy and the effects of climate change.

There’s a chance the bill will pass this session but it will depend on what else lawmakers have to tackle. If Measure 101, the so-called health care “provider tax,” doesn’t pass, lawmakers will likely be too busy with health care issues to address cap and trade.

After months of work group sessions, though, lawmakers now have a detailed proposal to work with. The program isn’t scheduled to launch until 2021, so the Legislature could also pick it back up next year.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a statement outlining her requirements for signing any bill that creates a cap and trade system for the state. They include protecting people from utility rate hikes as the state transitions away from coal-fired power and investing revenues to help rural and under-served communities make the shift to cleaner energy sources.

“It must both grow our economy and reduce pollution,” she said. “Specifically, the policy needs to ensure that as we reduce emissions, Oregon small businesses and manufacturers are not put at a competitive disadvantage in global markets.”

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed Dolores O'Riordan's death is not being treated as suspicious.

Dolores O'Riordan's death has sparked a surge in sales of her solo and Cranberries work with the band's latest album sales up by 913,350 per cent.