So we started green when Obama named Bill Richardson for Commerce Secretary. Then he withdrew and was replaced by the not-very-green Judd Gregg. Then he thankfully did the next 50 generations a big favor by withdrawing.
Now Obama appears to be back on the green track with the likely choice of former Gov. Gary Locke of Washington, a Democrat and the only Chinese-American ever to be governor of any state. As E&E Daily (subs. req’d) reports, he is green and climate smart and “well-regarded by Washington state environmental groups:
“Governor Locke has the experience of being governor of Washington, where protecting the environment is critical to the state’s strong economy and our high quality of life,” said Sudha Nandagopal, Washington Conservation Voters spokeswoman. “Having a person with that background shaping national policy is important in this time when addressing climate change and clean energy issues is critical to reviving out economy.”
In particular, environmentalists point out that Locke was one of the original authors of the West Coast Governors Global Warming Initiative, which laid the foundation for the Western Climate Initiative.
Locke also took several other actions as governor that linked economic development with environmental policy, including a 2002 executive order stating that the state would use its buying power to purchase environmentally friendly products and another in 2005 establishing efficiency standards for state operations.
Indeed, you can go the archived website from when he was governor, and take a look at everything he did under “Combating climate change”:
What we’re doing about it
In the absence of meaningful federal action, we on the West Coast have a responsibility to act, and act quickly. The following highlights the initial actions we are taking in Washington:
West Coast Governors’ Initiative
In September 2003, the governors of the three West Coast states committed to a regional greenhouse gas reduction initiative. As an initial step, we directed our staffs to develop joint policy recommendations on five reduction strategies that will benefit from regional cooperation and action: hybrid vehicle procurement, reduced ports and highway diesel emissions, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and measurement and reporting. Staff recommendations have now been developed and approved by the three governors. (PDF 735k)Energy Efficiency and Alternative fuels
Low-sulfur diesel fuel — In May 2004, Washington State Ferries announced that it would shift its entire ferry fleet to low-sulfur diesel fuel. It will also test both ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and biodiesel fuel. The ferry system has also upgraded its vessels with more-efficient engines and made changes to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, and will continue seeking new ways to improve fuel efficiency. As a result of these changes, nearly 10,000 fewer tons of pollutants will be released into the air by ferry fuel emissions. For more information about ultra-low sulfur fuel, contact the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.The Department of General Administration’s Energy Program manages energy efficiency projects in public buildings using Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC). They recently gathered together their information on completed projects to produce an Environmental Benefit Calculations page (PDF 76k). This shows the state’s leadership in addressing Greenhouse Gases by energy efficiency measures.Biodiesel — Washington now grants tax deferrals and exemptions for biodiesel fuel production and sales, and state agencies are required to use a minimum of two percent biodiesel fuel in diesel-powered equipment and vehicles. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is exploring using biodiesel in the state’s school buses. For information about these bills, visit the Washington State Legislature.
Building efficiency standards
The State Building Code Council has improved energy efficiency standards for all residential structures. Over the next 15 years these savings–counting just those from the single-family housing market–will keep nearly two million metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. These efficiency improvements also save homeowners money from their very first year of home ownership.CO2 mitigation
On March 31, 2004, I signed Substitute House Bill 3141 (PDF 31k), which codified our proposal to create America’s toughest siting standards for new fossil-fueled power plants. These plants will have to offset 20 percent of their expected carbon dioxide emissions by planting trees, paying for natural-gas transit buses, or finding other offset opportunities. For a typical 650-megawatt power plant, this will reduce overall carbon dioxide emissions by almost 2.5 million metric tons over 30 years.Commute Trip Reduction (CTR)
Through a variety of strategies, including transit passes, carpool benefits, flexible hours and telework, we actively encourage state employees to drive less. For others, the Washington Dept. of Transportation operates a Public Transportation web site with information about park-and-rides, bus service, passenger rail, and other helpful links.Fleet efficiency measures
The Office of State Procurement has two different hybrid electric sedans available on contract and will soon be adding an SUV hybrid electric vehicle and a zero emission neighborhood electric vehicle. State and local government agencies have added over 400 hybrid vehicles to our fleet in the past five years. Hybrid-electric vehicles are highly fuel efficient and have been shown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 33 percent.Measurement and tracking
Washington citizens and policymakers need sound data about the sources of greenhouse gas emissions as well as current trends. The energy policy division of the Dept. of Community, Trade and Economic Development has been tracking greenhouse gas emissions in Washington and has just completed an updated report, “Washington State’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Sources and Trends.” (PDF 342k)Renewable energy incentives
New legislation exempts Washingtonians who buy fuel cells or renewable energy equipment such as wind turbines and solar voltaic panels from sales and use taxes. For information, contact the Washington Dept. of Revenue.Washington State and Puget Sound Energy (PSE) have created a partnership with a common goal of reducing energy use in 30 state parks. The company provides free “energy audits” identifying opportunities for utility cost reduction. After each park completes installation of recommended upgrades, PSE pays back up to 50 percent of total costs in rebates. The parks save money for use elsewhere and the company helps reduce energy consumption in its service area, thus helping reduce global warming.
Washington State Parks are utilizing renewable energy sources on parklands by installing wind turbines in some of their coastal facilities. Grayland Beach State Park are purchasing a 10,000-watt Wind-turbine to provide power to public restrooms. A grant is covering 80 percent of the project cost. The wind-produced power will exceed the needs of the restrooms; excess power will go back to the power grid as “negawatts.” Westport Light State Park will install a smaller 400-watt Wind-turbine to power public restrooms at the beach.
School buses
One of my highest air pollution priorities is curbing harmful emissions from school buses. In 2003, the Legislature provided $25 million that will upgrade up to 90 percent of the state’s existing school buses with emission reduction technology. Meanwhile, the Office of Superintendent for Public Instruction, the Washington State Patrol and the Department of Ecology have created a state-wide emissions testing and maintenance program for school buses. A similar program in Iowa reduced diesel soot emissions by 27 percent overall.Other possible actions
Our energy analysts are currently investigating additional strategies to reduce or avert CO2 emissions. We are considering adopting state energy efficiency standards for products not covered by the federal government (where multiple manufacturers deliver products that meet such new standards). We also plan to explore the adoption of energy portfolio standards that would guide utilities to invest in energy efficiency programs and select renewable resources to meet a minimum percentage of Washington’s electricity needs.
Let’s hope that he’s paid his taxes and that the third time is a charm so Obama can round out his green dream team:
- Carol Browner to oversee energy and climate at the White House
- SOS trumps NSA (Hillary Clinton trumps Gen. Jones)
- Top 5 reasons Chu is a great energy pick — #1: “It’s not guaranteed we have a solution for coal”
- Obama picks a green jobs leader for Labor Secretary: Hilda Solis
- For NOAA head, Obama appoints yet another scientist who gets climate
- Obama’s strongest message on climate yet: John Holdren to be named Science Adviser
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
Climate change timetable slips as Obama backtracks on 2008 deadline
Campaign pledge to quickly pass laws to cut emissions faltering in the first weeks of his presidency
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/24/barackobama-climatechange
Gary keynoted the Seattle Summit on Protecting the Earth’s Climate back in 2000. Climate Solutions staged the event to bring together public officials, business leaders and environmentalists around the clean energy opportunity. The governor also wrote this op-ed for the Seattle Times April 21, 2000 in conjunction with the conference. Especially notable in regard to his new post are the comments about Asian clean energy markets.
Pacific Northwest poised for clean-energy century
Gary Locke
Special to The Times
THE Pacific Northwest owes much of its economic success to capturing an early edge in high-tech. We have a tremendous opportunity to reap the rewards of leading the next technology revolution – clean energy – and to make a significant contribution to heading off global warming.
Today, solar panels and wind turbines are the world’s fastest-growing energy sources, while fuel cells that power buildings and vehicles will reach the market this decade. Already, the Northwest is home to solar and fuel-cell industry leaders and has great potential in the wind-energy industry.
The energy industry is beginning to undergo a sea change. Rapid advances in microelectronics and materials science – the foundation of the information technology revolution – also help to make solar panels, wind turbines and fuel cells dramatically more efficient and economical.
Shell, which has one of the world’s leading energy-research units, predicts clean sources could compete with fossil fuels by 2020 and supply half the world’s energy by 2050. That represents a potential energy equipment and service market in the trillions of dollars.
For a troubled climate, this technological transformation comes none too soon. Heads of the top U.S. and British climate-monitoring agencies recently made one of the most definitive statements on global warming issued yet.
“Our climate is now changing rapidly . . . Our new data and understanding now point to a critical situation we face,” said U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chief James Baker and United Kingdom Meteorological Office head Peter Ewins in December. “Ignoring climate change will surely be the most costly of all possible choices, for us and our children.”
Avoiding those costs will require the rapid transition from fossil fuels, the overwhelming source of human-caused climate change. Northwest companies and institutions are already laying the groundwork.
Applied Power Corporation of Lacey, North America’s second-largest solar integrator, puts together solar power systems for projects ranging from residences to institutions.
Siemens Solar, one of the world’s top makers of solar photovoltaic cells, grows all the silicon crystal from which it makes cells at its Vancouver, Wash., plant.
Trace Engineering of Arlington is the world’s leading maker of inverters, the electronic brains that regulate electrical current from solar panels, fuel cells and other micropower plants.
Spokane’s Avista Labs this year will be one of the world’s first companies to ship fuel cells for home use. Bonneville Power Administration this year becomes the world’s first utility to sponsor a residential fuel cell demonstration project, involving as many as 110 homes by 2002.
Clean energy companies are attracted to the Northwest by the same factors that draw other high-tech companies – high quality of life, a technologically skilled work force and a world-class accumulation of technology-savvy venture capital. The Seattle area now has the nation’s second-fastest-growing venture capital pool, and is quickly moving into first.
Our region’s connection with Asian markets is also a huge plus. Two billion people in developing nations, mostly in Asia, now are without electrical service because of the immense cost of building power grids. In many off-grid areas, solar panels are already the cheapest power. Energy analysts point to parallels in telecommunications, where many developing nations avoid building phone lines by jumping directly to wireless systems. China is the world’s largest cell-phone market.
The Northwest has another advantage going into a clean-energy century – a longstanding record of energy policy leadership. Regional power planning back in the 1980s instituted conservation as a power source, helping spur a substantial industry specializing in energy efficiency. It is a major component of this state’s clean-energy business: the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development estimates the industry’s annual revenues at $900 million.
The Northwest, already playing an important role in the clean-energy revolution, has the brainpower, the smarts and the capacity to move into the lead. Building on these assets, we can help accelerate the global clean energy development needed to avert catastrophic global warming. For both our economy and environment, it is a golden opportunity we cannot afford to ignore.
Gary Locke is governor of Washington.
Since Gary wrote that, the Northwest clean tech sector has indeed exploded. Climate Solutions and CleanEdge joined to issue a report on the topic in September, Carbon-Free Prosperity 2025 http://www.climatesolutions.org/?s=latest&aid=63