Benefits of Renewable Energy

Benefits of Renewable Energy. I’m Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report.

Profitability. It’s what drives business. If it’s not profitable, well, there is no business. Erin Greeson is the Communications Manager with Renewable Northwest Project who has recently taken a look at the renewable energy business here in the northwest to see if it was a profitable business.

GREESON: As a renewable energy advocacy non-profit we do follow what’s happening throughout the whole region so we do a lot of work in Washington State. We also keep abreast of what’s happening in Montana, Oregon and Idaho, too. Renewable Northwest Project conducted a study of the amount of capital investment that renewable energy businesses have made in Washington to date.

She says Washington has reached a very important milestone.

GREESON: The State of Washington is nearing $8-billion dollars in capital investment it has attracted from new renewable energy companies. And that includes wind, biomass and solar industries. So this is quite remarkable for us to observe. We looked at not only the capital investment going into the different counties in Washington State but additionally we have seen millions of dollars of properties tax revenue that these companies and the projects they have developed brought to many of the counties throughout Washington.

Northwest states have been leaders in the renewable game since the get go.

GREESON: Obviously there is the very strong tradition surrounding the great hydro system that have here in the northwest and just as a federal investments in the hydro system resulted in the cheap power, jobs and economic vitality that we enjoy today, what we’re seeing now is that investments in new renewable projects and companies are creating new kinds of vitalities

And she says that even through the recession that renewable energy has been an economic driver.

GREESON: We’re seeing that while other sorts of industries unfortunately have either had to close shop or in some cases ship jobs overseas, new renewable industries are putting money on the ground in the State of Washington and throughout the northwest and creating quite a lot of jobs and again those tax revenues to many rural counties

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