Oregon: The state with the ‘triple bottom line’

—Theresa Novak

In May 2000, Gov. John Kitzhaber set into motion a plan that he hopes will shape the future of Oregon for the next 25 years. By 2025, Kitzhaber wants government agencies, Oregon businesses and communities to adopt a "sustainability" gyroscope that powers and balances interconnected environmental, economic and social policies.

Begun with the governor’s Executive Order 00-07, also known as the Oregon Solutions initiative, it is a blueprint for Oregon’s future. It takes its cues from innovations in the business community and has a "triple bottom line"—people, places and profits—to promote resource conservation. The idea is to save now, so future Oregonians will enjoy a good quality of life later.

The Oregon Solutions plan reflects the view that business, government and communities operate best when economic, environmental and social considerations are given equal weight.

In the year since the executive order was signed, Oregon state agency heads and employees have met or exceeded almost all of their goals, said Paul Burnet, who administers the Oregon Solutions program for the Governor’s Office. Burnet is assisted by a "working group" of 25 volunteer representatives and advisors from business, civic and local government groups.

On May 17, 2001-—exactly a year after Kitzhaber signed the sustainability initiative—Burnet summed up some of the sustainability changes that state departments had made:

"We’ve learned, with very few exceptions, that people wanted to do the right thing," Burnet said. Among the changes he mentioned:

• State grounds crews have adopted new ways of gardening that reduce pesticide use on the Capitol mall and other state grounds by 80 percent.
  
  
• The new North (Capitol) Mall project in Salem, a 120,000-square-foot building project that began in the fall of 2001, calls for a "green" building design intended to make it 38 percent more energy-efficient than required by Oregon’s tough energy code.
  
  
• Facilities managers use "green power" whenever possible, buying it from non-polluting sources.
  
  
• Use of electricity by the Department of Administrative Services dropped 13 percent in April 2001 over the previous year, simply by adjusting thermostats.
  
  
• Purchasing managers are beginning to ask for sustainable products when buying recycled paper, cleaning products and other maintenance equipment.
  
  
• Using existing fleet purchasing monies and through special grants, the state’s motor pool now has purchased 11 "hybrid" vehicles that operate on gasoline for highway driving and on electricity for city driving. Clean-burning compressed natural gas powers 35 state vehicles.
  
  
• State maintenance departments in Portland and Salem have been certified as "green" auto repair shops.

Burnet said that Oregon’s sustainability program has found supporters in both houses of the Oregon legislature. The legislators proved him right on July 3, 2000, when they unanimously passed the Oregon Sustainability Act. It ensures the continuation of the sustainability initiative that Kitzhaber launched.

Sponsored by Rep. Susan Morgan (R-Myrtle Creek), the Sustainability Act not only brought together Oregon Republicans and Democrats, it united groups as diverse as Defenders of Wildlife and Associated Oregon Industries. Supporters of the sustainability act included Oregon State University, the Oregon Department of Forestry and Sustainable Northwest.

Sara Vickerman of Defenders of Wildlife said the bill "establishes a policy of sustainability for Oregon" that builds upon Kitzhaber’s executive order. The act also established a Sustainability Board and created the Institute for Natural Resources at OSU. This institute will help the public and policy leaders make sound choices about natural resource issues for Oregon’s future.

For more on this topic, visit:

• Oregon Solutions for a Sustainable Future