Investing In Clean Energy

Investing in Clean Energy. I'm Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report. A lot of companies are discovering that investing in energy projects can have a long term payoff. Lisa Adatto, Oregon Director for Climate Solutions says that Oregon has really stepped up to the plate. ADATTO: Oregon has put a stake in the ground with clean energy in many ways. We have an Oregon business plan, actually created through a corporate, cooperative approach through business groups and government and that statewide business plan focuses on clean energy as a major growth driver for Oregon. And many of our local cities like the city of Portland, the metro area, many other areas have focused on clean energy as a driver. Adatto says that the focus on clean energy has really worked for Oregon. ADATTO: We now have a significant variety of clean energy plants, projects, generating sources throughout the state and it has been one of the few very successful growth areas over the last 5 years. Growth in terms of jobs, in terms of revenue for cities, state government, in terms of investment, in terms of an asset for the state and in terms of savings because as we make energy here and what I mean by savings in this context is we're saving money, we're keeping money in Oregon. Not to mention the amount of money that the energy efficiency is generating. Adatto says that it is important for local and state governments to become invested in clean energy. ADATTO: We're working on a campaign to remind people about these benefits and cities and counties are already active in that. They see the benefits, especially the smaller counties and rural communities. Some of them have actually been saved, their government dollars have been saved through the clean energy projects in the area. Programs like the Business Energy Tax Credit have made major impacts in many areas of the state. ADATTO: It's been around since the 70's and it was a fairly sleepy and small program for many, many years focused on saving energy, on energy conservation. And then little by little it grew to focus on renewable energy as well. At it's peak it's been a broad program that has covered renewable energy, energy efficiency, even a little bit of clean energy transportation so it's been popular because it's been so broad and it's been – in the past, that's not right now, it's not today - but in the past it's been fairly easy to access. For additional information on clean energy, visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. www.harvestcleanenergy.org