House Bill 2960 passes Oregon House and Senate; headed to Governor for his signature
One of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters’ (OLCV) top priorities is one step away from becoming law. House Bill 2960, known as Cool Schools, passed the Oregon Senate with unanimous support. This comes on the heels of the Oregon House unanimously approving the bill last week.
Cool Schools blends environmental protection, job creation, and looking out for children, as it fast-tracks energy efficiency and health and safety upgrades for Oregon’s K-12 schools.
The wide bipartisan support for Cool Schools continues to show how protecting Oregon’s environment and creating jobs go hand-in-hand, said OLCV Executive Director Jon Isaacs. “The biggest winner here is clearly our children and their teachers, who will enjoy safer and healthier learning environments in buildings that use energy more efficiently.
“The Cool Schools legislation is a significant step we can take to protect our environment and cut costs at Oregons K-12 schools at the same time, as making energy efficiency, environmental, and health upgrades can reduce operational costs, protect the well-being of students and teachers, and create the most effective learning environments possible.
However, according to Michael Bastasch, a research associate at Cascade Policy Institute, the initiative is not so cool.
The Oregon Cool Schools Initiative directs the Oregon Department of Energy to provide zero to low-interest loans and grants to school districts for energy efficiency building improvements. Governor John Kitzhaber, the bill’s main proponent, argues that HB 2960 will create healthier, more energy efficient schools and create jobs.
“However, given the propensity of government to overestimate the benefits of its programs while completely understating the costs, the economic impacts of HB 2960 most likely will yield the opposite results of what Gov. Kitzhaber claims,” writes Bastasch in his opinion on the legislation.
“Washington initiated a similar program in 2005, and the results were underwhelming. A recent report from the Washington Policy Center shows the costs of the program greatly outweighed the benefits. First, many of the new “green” schools actually used up to 52 percent more energy than predicted, and some were even less efficient than buildings that were decades old.
“Second, most of the money that went to each school was spent on meeting the program’s guidelines and not to energy savings. For example, the Spokane School District spent $455,826 bringing Lincoln Heights Elementary up to the “green” requirements. Only $81,000 (18 percent) was spent on energy efficiency measures, while the rest (82 percent) was spent on meeting other requirements that didn’t yield any energy savings. In addition, estimates reveal that the payback time on these “green” improvements is about 43 years. Since virtually no school goes that long without making any changes, it is very likely that energy efficiency investments will never pay for themselves.
“Third, student scores at these “green” schools were not significantly improved. In fact, student performance was 25 percent below what was promised by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2005. Moreover, academic performance was lower on average at “green” schools than at comparable schools in the same district, according to the State Board of Education’s Accountability Index. Students in these schools are actually performing worse and at a higher cost to Washington taxpayers.
“Washington’s experiment should provide us with a lesson on why “green” projects such as these almost never pan out. Instead, Governor Kitzhaber and other proponents of HB 2960 tout the popular phrase “job creation.” The question we should be asking is, job creation for whom and for how long? HB 2960 requires that schools receiving initiative funds only hire Oregon-based contractors and that district employees not perform work constituting over 5 percent of the project’s total cost.
“Governor Kitzhaber and his staff also claim that for every $1 million spent, 10 to 15 jobs will be created. How would spending approximately $67,000 to $100,000 per job add jobs to the economy, especially when these jobs are temporary? What the Governor does not mention is how many jobs will be lost for every “Cool Schools” job that is created. Basically, HB 2960 carves out a nice little temporary benefit for a small group of people at the expense of all Oregon taxpayers. What is ignored are the unseen costs to the overall economy, such as jobs not created had the funds been efficiently spent by individuals, and also the goods that those workers could have produced had resources been employed in different areas.
“Washington’s “green” schools debacle should show Oregonian lawmakers that these types of endeavors are often fruitless and result in wasted tax dollars, lost jobs and misallocated resources. Why should Oregonians be forced to “invest” in an initiative where they will never see any returns or any noticeable long-run benefits? They shouldn’t, and legislators should have considered the wider economic impacts of HB 2960 before blindly passing it.”
Legislators, however, seem adamant that this bill will improve the economy and help school. “This bill is a great example of how we can put differences aside and come together to do what’s right for our children, for our environment and for job creation,” said Senator Chris Edwards (D-Eugene/Junction City), a co-sponsor of the Cool Schools legislation. “I’m proud to join conservation organizations like OLCV, teachers, business leaders, and organized labor in supporting HB 2960.”
OLCV and the Oregon Conservation Network have identified HB 2960 as a top priority because they say that creating more sustainable schools that use energy and water more efficiently, improving indoor air quality and acoustics, and reducing harmful toxics will create jobs and help Oregon’s children and taxpayers get the most out of our public schools.
HB 2960 now goes to Governor Kitzhaber for his signature who said, “This is great news for Oregonians. Cool Schools creates family-wage jobs, saves schools money, and boosts student performance. Cool Schools was a centerpiece of my campaign, and I look forward to signing the bill.”
