Local rally to urge a green path to economic strength

Clean energy advocates see a path to a stronger economy in the creation of green jobs, whether they are in the solar industry, wind power, or at companies that help make homes and businesses more energy efficient, like Bend’s E2 Powered.
State and local economies that depend on fossil fuels will suffer, said K.C. Golden, policy director for Climate Solutions, a Washington nonprofit — but the ones based on clean energy and the jobs surrounding its use and installation will prosper.
“Oregon’s really got everything it takes, and a track record and a head of steam to be a winner in that situation,” Golden said.
But Oregon and other states need job-training programs and specific goals for reducing greenhouse gasses to continue heading toward that green economy, he said.
And today, at E2 Powered and more than 650 venues across the country, green-energy supporters will gather to urge government leaders to take steps in that direction.
“It’s about creating a new economy using clean energy and green jobs,” said Mike Hewitt, president of E2 Powered. “We as a company have seen the benefit of some of the good policies in Oregon that support that industry, and want to push that nationwide.”
The groups involved in the Bend Green Jobs Now rally, as well as others taking part in events elsewhere, say that strengthening the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries will help turn the economy around in the United States, Hewitt said.
“This is what we want,” he said. “This is what we need right now. It’s time to make good investments.”
The Bend event will involve a tour of E2 Powered and talks about Bend’s role in the renewable energy industry, said Joelle Robinson, field director with Climate Solutions, one of the event’s organizers.
Jobs in the industry would be local and would stay local, she said. Workers could be trained to weatherize homes, install solar panels or build wind turbines.
Wind energy developers have difficulty finding trained technicians, Robinson said.
Participants in Saturday’s events are also calling for a Clean Energy Corps, said Jeremy Hays, field director with Green For All, a national group that is organizing the day’s events.
They want federal leaders to create something on the scale of the Civilian Conservation Corps or the Peace Corps, deploying participants to weatherize and retrofit buildings and homes for energy efficiency, and setting up job-training programs.
“This is a way for us to send a message, loud and clear, to our state and federal leaders, specifically to Congress, that we are ready to build an inclusive green economy that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty and reduce climate change,” Robinson said.
Kate Ramsayer can be reached at 541-617-7811 or kramsayer@bendbulletin.com.
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Green rally
The Green Jobs Now rally and tour will start at 10 a.m. today at the E2 Powered facility, 840 S.E. Woodland Blvd., Suite 100, Bend.