With green energy, Northwest can help itself
By Roger Ebbage – Register-Guard Guest Viewpoint – October 30, 2008
Opinion: Editorials & Letters:
As America confronts the current economic and energy crises, now is the time to invest in clean energy technologies that will build prosperity and fight global warming. Clean energy and climate solutions are the brightest prospect for driving economic recovery and sustaining long-term prosperity.
A recent report by the Political Economy Research Institute finds that investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry. Worldwide, $148 billion was invested in renewable energy and efficiency companies in 2007 — 60 percent more than in 2006.
Just this month, regional clean technology experts Clean Edge and Climate Solutions released Carbon Free Prosperity 2025, a report that shows the Northwest can generate more than 63,000 new family-supporting jobs by focusing on five clean technology areas: solar photovoltaic manufacturing, green building design, sustainable bioenergy, wind power and “smart-grid” technologies that improve the efficiency of our electric system and more easily integrate renewable energy. The Clean Edge report shows how the Pacific Northwest can seize a leadership role in the clean-tech economy.
