When backers of the Apollo Project filed their ballot measure in January, word on the street was that the petroleum industry would remain unofficially neutral. Turns out, that hope was a little premature—oil industry representatives have challenged the measure’s wording, and the resulting delay could prove fatal.
If it passes, the Apollo Project would create renewable energy centers around the state that would offer training and attract green businesses to Oregon. It would also offer tax breaks to biofuel farmers, expand the amount of state loans that clean energy businesses can take out, and mandate an increasing percentage of liquid biofuel usage to replace fossil fuels.
On the last day to challenge the ballot title (basically, how the measure is summarized for voters), Brian Harris, president of Harris Transportation, and Julie Brandis of Associated Oregon Industries filed appeals to the Oregon Supreme Court, challenging the ballot title that was approved by the state attorney general. Since Oregon Apollo can’t begin collecting signatures until the ballot title is ultimately approved, it could be a month or more before their signature sheets are on the streets.
The challenges to the ballot title and summary have thus far been complaints that the language doesn’t fully emphasize the cost of the measure. But it doesn’t take much digging to link the challenges to the oil industry.
Harris’ company is “the largest petroleum bulk carrier in the US Northwest.” Further, Harris’ original comment to the attorney general was also on behalf of the Western States Petroleum Association, the Oregon Petroleum Association, and the Oregon Truckers Association—the industries that stand to lose money if the state establishes incentives and mandates for biofuel use.
Lobbying firm Associated Oregon Industries, Brandis’ employer, was one of the chief interest groups that killed House Bill 3481, a similar biofuels package, in the legislature last year. The organization convinced Republican lawmakers to insert a clause in the bill that would expand pollution control tax credits, lowering actual environmental protections, and effectively ending all support for the biofuels package.
Oregon Apollo spokesperson Mari Anne Gest said she wasn’t surprised that representatives of the petroleum industry are trying to kill the Apollo Project. “It’s just a delay tactic—a cheap way to keep this off the ballot,” she said. “I think they know we’ll win if this goes through.”
But since the project got off to a relatively late start, the delay could put the measure on ice for this year. Gest says that if the Supreme Court makes a decision by the first week in April, they still may be able to get the required 75,630 signatures by July 7. If the court takes longer, Apollo leaders will decide on shelving this year’s effort and returning in the future.