As the Governor of Oregon, let me make something very clear: Oregon is open for business. Oregon is ranked #6 on Forbes magazine’s list of the nation’s best states for business. The Tax Foundation ranks us 14 in its 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index. And the latest Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking indicates that Oregon has the ninth lowest rates in the country – 17 percent below the national median – a key factor in lowering the cost of doing business in the state. In the short time that I’ve been in office, we’ve worked hard to improve the “Tone at the Top,” or how state leaders talk to business leaders. We need state leadership that welcomes growth in our business community and encourages our citizens to understand the importance of a balanced economy for long-term prosperity in Oregon. Uncertainty is the enemy of investment, and lukewarm support for job-growth costs us dearly.
My first act as Governor was to launch a number of immediate job-creation action
items, and I’m proud to report that we’ve made real progress on all of them - well more
than 15,000 jobs have been created in Oregon already this year. Clean energy is, no
doubt, key to the success we’ve seen. Oregon now has the most jobs per capita in the clean
energy economy of any state in the country, according to a recent study by the non-profit
Pew Charitable Trusts. And clean energy job growth is five times stronger than overall job
growth in the state. To me, this is proof that an economy of innovation is within our reach.
It is possible to have a low-carbon economy that leads the way in advanced manufacturing
and product design that uses less energy - one that rewards efficiency rather than excess.
It’s also possible to have an economy that values the local: Oregon companies
supplying Oregon companies, where communities capture their local value streams – their
energy savings, wind, sun, forest slash – and drive their economies by keeping that value at
home instead of letting those dollars leak out into the world economy to purchase imported
energy. It is time that we keep more of our money at home and start injecting new money
into Oregon’s economy as we sell the fruits of our low-carbon innovation to others. And
we’ve already got plenty of examples of how this model works: the solar array I was lucky
enough to launch at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario included panels made
by Solar World in Hillsboro and electronics from PV Powered in Bend. And then there’s
Miles Fiberglass in Clackamas. It’s a family-owned company that has transformed itself
after its core business of making composite parts for RV’s was hit hard by the recession.
Instead of trying to stay afloat doing business as usual, Miles developed high-strength/lowweight
ratio composites for wind blades and started training blade-repair technicians who service Vestas turbines – and the company has grown from 30 to 100 employees.
It’s no accident that Oregon is reaping the job-creation and community-development
rewards of companies like Zeachem, Miles Fiberglass, PV Powered, Solar World,
and hundreds of others throughout the state. Policies that help level the playing field
and provide access to markets for emerging renewable energy and energy efficiency
technologies have been critically important. And yes, that includes incentives like
Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit and Residential Energy Tax Credit that I believe have
benefited the state.It’s no accident that 16,000 Oregon businesses have invested over $1.6 billion in energy efficiency
-- including lighting, heating, industrial processes and other measures -- making Oregon the number-threestate
in the nation for energy efficiency. Nearly 300,000 people have installed energy efficient appliances in
their homes, like refrigerators, dishwashers, and washing machines, and we are saving $500 million a year
in energy costs.
It’s no accident that Oregon has become the U.S. solar manufacturing capital, employing 1,700 people
now and projected to grow to 2,350 by the end of this year.
It’s no accident that wind companies have invested $4.5 billion in the state, providing rural Sherman
County with $17 million more to meet its communities’ needs for school supplies, health services, and
capital projects.
And it’s no accident that Oregon boasts 2,118 megawatts of operating renewable energy today, enough
to power 530,000 homes and to avoid over four million tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually.
The only reason we can consider the early retirement of the Boardman coal plant is because Oregon
has demonstrated the potential for meeting our energy needs from a diverse mix of generation and
efficiency. That’s a model for the country.
Energy efficiency was a centerpiece of my campaign, and it remains a primary focus. It is a great
creator of family-wage jobs that can’t be exported out of state, and it is also one of the most effective and
least costly ways to meet Oregonians’ future energy needs. It’s estimated that our state can meet 85% of
our future energy needs through energy efficiency upgrades. That’s why Cool Schools is a key element of
my economic recovery package and fits so neatly into my overall vision for the state. It is a triple-bottomline
effort: a jobs program that will put people back to work; an education initiative that will put money
back into the class room; and a health initiative that creates a healthy place for Oregonians to teach and
learn.
Studies show that for every $1 million invested in energy efficiency, we create as many as 15 fairwage
jobs. Cool Schools will provide these kinds of jobs for Oregonians in every county of the state. First, certified energy auditors will conduct audits and evaluations of school buildings to figure out where we can find cost-effective, high-impact efficiency upgrades. Then, contractors, construction workers, and energy performance specialists will get to work fixing roofs, putting in insulation, and installing upgraded heating and cooling equipment. Another aspect of Cool Schools that will help promote jobs is our work to create a preference for efficient biomass boilers to replace aging fossil fuel-based heating systems. This is a homegrown, renewable energy solution that will also provide jobs for rural Oregonians. Schools that have already done energy efficiency upgrades have saved 35 percent annually, so clearly, investing in energy efficient public buildings will save the state and schools a significant amount of money. In fact, a comprehensive analysis of the financial costs and benefits of green building found that a minimal up-front investment of about 2 percent of construction costs typically yields life cycle savings of over ten times the initial investment. That’s quite a return on investment for our state – and our classrooms.
High levels of carbon dioxide in the air lead to lethargy and attention problems. Mold leads to asthma. Yet every day our children, teachers, and school staff are at school, they are grappling with these conditions. We know that upgrading school buildings can minimize their exposure to these kinds of harmful substances and improve our students’ and our teachers’ work. In 2005, the state of Washington saw absenteeism drop by 15 percent in schools that made efficiency upgrades. They also saw test scores jump an impressive 5 percent. And, improved indoor air quality reduces the incidence of flu by 51 percent, according to a Carnegie Mellon University study. The creative financing options we are developing to make Cool Schools happen can be scaled up for use across commercial and industrial markets. It’s a big idea transformed into getting on-the-ground results.
I’m also committed to maximizing our own energy resources to begin a new and efficient incentive package for community-scale renewable energy projects, expanding Oregon’s feed-in tariff pilot project and promoting community-scale biomass energy projects. I believe that Oregon can be a global leader in developing the technologies and techniques in both energy efficiency and energy production, then marketing these as products to the rest of the world. We also have the opportunity to integrate clean technology and energy efficiency measures and practices into existing, conventional industries in ways that provide them with a competitive advantage in the marketplace. And if we are going to achieve this vision, we must engage all Oregonians in crafting the strategy to achieve it. I hope you will join me in doing that so we can turn this transformational idea into Oregon’s reality.
by Governor John Kitzhaber, State of Oregon Issue #465 / April 2011
John Kitzhaber is the 37th Governor of Oregon. He served as the 35th Governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and
became the first person to be elected to the office three times when he was re-elected to a non-consecutive third
term in 2010. Prior to becoming a politician in Oregon, he was a practicing physician. He graduated from South
Eugene High School in 1965, Dartmouth College in 1969, and Oregon Health & Science University with a medical
degree in 1973. Kitzhaber practiced medicine from 1973 to 1986 in Roseburg, Oregon as an emergency room
physician. Kitzhaber began his political career in 1979 as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for
one term. In 1980, he was elected to the Oregon State Senate, where he served three terms from 1981 to 1993,
and he was the president of the Senate from 1985 until 1993. As Oregon Senate President, he was the chief author
of the state’s government-funded health care plan, the Oregon Health Plan.
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