Response post: renewables can't be stopped

The Greenwash Brigade

It looks like Michigan and Washington are closely aligned with their renewable portfolio standards of 10% by 2015 and 15% by 2020, respectively. But with all due respect Jim, I think Washington is kicking Michigan’s renewable derriere. We have 39 geothermal, solar, wave energy and wind projects in some forward marching phase, with 18 fully operational.

Gifted with massive coastal wave energy, the windy (and thankfully sunny) eastern part of Washington and geothermal deposits, we are using a suite of public policy tools, including the dreaded Initiative process, to move inexorably towards a clean energy economy in the Pacific NW.

Abyd Karmali from Merrill Lynch was right on target when he said “the carbon crunch is a multi-generational challenge that will significantly outlast the credit crunch.” Long-term success for renewable energy will come to fruition, even with the massive belching from Wall Street and its run for cover.

When we collectively stop quaking in our boots and recognize that financial outcomes are within our control, and when…

Congress renews the renewable tax credit (and we know dirty fuels will come along for the ride, or no deal)
We adopt a “recovery/bailout/Mr. fix-it” plan that substantively changes banking regulation
Shareholder action and common sense reign in the obscenity of rewarding incompetence with golden parachutes
Citizens realize the returns from clean energy will create family wage incomes for many areas, critically more rural locations
Clean energy is a national security strategy and a human health imperative
We act on the recognition that a slash and burn, 1950s retrograde emphasis on inelegant technologies, scale and pollution, is not a pathway to economic success; and
Everyone follows the progressive lead of states and municipalities that just refuse to wait any longer for federal intelligence on this issue…

…the world will look a little brighter (and cleaner).

The credit markets will re-emerge, a certain number of venture capitalists will continue to fund renewable investments and when the dust settles over the nation, I’ll be glad I live in Washington (State that is). Washington also passed Green Jobs legislation not long ago, the objective of which is to increase the number of green jobs to 25,000 by 2020.

The positive returns for everyone from parents (with kids breathing good air quality), R&D, manufacturing, specialty trades, construction, legal, engineering and governments is just too enticing to let fall. If you disbelieve, just ask the U.S. Conference of Mayors who just released their green jobs report (link opens PDF). Communities everywhere will benefit from continued and increased investments in clean energy and cleantech overall, and it’s a good, forward looking story — just you wait and see.

October 3, 2008 by Heidi Siegelbaum
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tags: bailout renewable energy Washington

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Our hand-picked environmental professionals, each part of the Public Insight Network, are on the hunt for "greenwash" as they examine eco-friendly claims by companies, governments and other groups. They ask tough questions about the mainstreaming of green, from the perspectives of people in the trenches who are focused on these issues 24/7.

Jim Nicolow is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design and leads the sustainability initiative for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, overseeing the incorporation of sustainable design strategies and features into the firm’s design projects. He is a LEED® Accredited Professional with extensive knowledge of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system.

Janne K. Flisrand has worked as an affordable housing and urban planning research consultant for five years, primarily supporting local non-profits. Her focus is on transit, transit-oriented design, affordable housing, and sustainability. Currently, she’s the program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, a program promoting affordable, healthy, sustainably built housing throughout Minnesota.

Dennis Markatos-Soriano recently completed a Master's in Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. He is now launching Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) to help individuals and institutions move from dependence on oil and gas to an efficient use of renewables. Previously, he co-founded SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment), which aims to bring young progressives together across issues of environmental and social justice throughout North Carolina and beyond. In the summer of 2006, he helped to start a small green company, Greenway Pedicabs, to provide a greenhouse gas-free transportation option for people in the Triangle of North Carolina.

Heidi Siegelbaum is a principal with Calyx Sustainable Tourism and works primarily on advancing sustainable tourism practices. She also specializes in science translation, cross-border indicators with Canada, cross-disciplinary planning and environmental technical assistance to businesses. Previously, she was in-house legal counsel for EPA for industrial chemicals and biotechnology and the senior performance measure analyst with the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is on the technical advisory committee of the Seattle Culinary Academy and a long standing member of the Chefs Collaborative.

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