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Sustainable Business

Diesel emissions targeted in Northeast Portland

Private and public entities, acting alongside non-profits, are voluntarily reducing diesel pollution in a part of the city known for heavy traffic and industry

By Eric Hendricksen

The East County News, Aug 1, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A diverse group of stakeholders is tackling diesel emission issues in North and Northeast Portland through an Oregon Solutions project designated by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

The collaborative group is working to find ways to reduce diesel emissions, which contribute to asthma and other health problems in the area and greenhouse gas accumulation worldwide, from construction equipment and heavy on-road, rail and marine traffic.

Fuel providers, trucking companies and garbage and recycling haulers are cooperating with public agencies like the Oregon Departments of Environmental Quality and Transportation, City of Portland and Multnomah County health department in the project, which promotes a voluntary rather than legislative approach to improving air quality and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Oregon Solutions – an arm of the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University that promotes comm-unity governance based on principals of collaboration, integration, and sustainability – organized the emissions reduction program.

“Using this voluntary approach, I think we make progress on the ground, step by step, with more tangible results than legislative efforts,” said Kim Travis, network manager for Oregon Solutions. “These things can happen independently.”

The project has its share of non-profit collaborators, such as the Environmental Justice Action Group, Coalition for a Livable Future and Oregon Environmental Council. Kulongoski appointed respected community leaders Doctor Algie Gatewood, president of Portland Community College, Cascade Campus, and Carl Talton of Portland Family of Funds as co-conveners.

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