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Kitzhaber's new 10-year energy plan draft floats big ideas to reactivate green energy
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/03/kitzhaber_to_unveil_a_new_10-y.html[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][font size=5]Kitzhaber's new 10-year energy plan draft floats big ideas to reactivate green energy[/font]
Published: Saturday, March 03, 2012, 10:26 PM
Updated: Sunday, March 04, 2012, 10:43 AM
[font size=3]For all the green energy sound and fury of the past decade -- Oregon's headlong recruitment of wind and solar companies, its controversial tax breaks, its aggressive mandates for renewable power -- change to the overall supply of electricity has been painfully slow to come.
Sure, the Columbia Plateau is now draped in wind turbines. But they still supply only 3 percent of Oregon's electricity. Solar and geothermal are mere blips. And though existing hydro is a big contributor, fossil fuel plants are still the workhorses, kicking in half the state's electricity.
Meanwhile, Oregon is making scant progress on greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Enter Gov. John Kitzhaber, with a much-anticipated 10-year energy action plan. His policy vision, vetted by the state's leading energy wonks, will debut in the next few weeks. It features a laundry list of initiatives to take renewables, efficiency and green transportation from the marginal to the mainstream, all in the name of lower greenhouse gases, energy security and jobs.
...[/font][/font]
Published: Saturday, March 03, 2012, 10:26 PM
Updated: Sunday, March 04, 2012, 10:43 AM
[font size=3]For all the green energy sound and fury of the past decade -- Oregon's headlong recruitment of wind and solar companies, its controversial tax breaks, its aggressive mandates for renewable power -- change to the overall supply of electricity has been painfully slow to come.
Sure, the Columbia Plateau is now draped in wind turbines. But they still supply only 3 percent of Oregon's electricity. Solar and geothermal are mere blips. And though existing hydro is a big contributor, fossil fuel plants are still the workhorses, kicking in half the state's electricity.
Meanwhile, Oregon is making scant progress on greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Enter Gov. John Kitzhaber, with a much-anticipated 10-year energy action plan. His policy vision, vetted by the state's leading energy wonks, will debut in the next few weeks. It features a laundry list of initiatives to take renewables, efficiency and green transportation from the marginal to the mainstream, all in the name of lower greenhouse gases, energy security and jobs.
...[/font][/font]