Washington Ranked 6th in Nation

According to Clean Edge's second annual U.S. Clean Energy Leadership Index Washington ranks 6th within the top ten states for "Clean Energy Leadership."

As reported in Clean Edge News "The 2011 Leadership Index paints an important and insightful picture of the U.S. clean-energy landscape."

Key indicators within the topics of technology, policy and capital are measured, and the state Gross National Product, population, total sales and other factors are taken into account. Over 70 comprehensive indicators and 3,500 data points for all 50 states were analyzed.

The top ten in order are California, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Washington, New Mexico, Minnesota, Connecticut and Vermont 

Why is it worthwhile for policy makers and business people to pay attention to these trends? 

Part of the answer is in California. Per the Clean Edge press release:

"Top-ranked California's longtime commitment to clean energy has put the state far ahead of the pack in terms of technology deployment and capital creation. The state's burgeoning clean-energy industry brings in more venture capital than all other states combined."

That translates into jobs and a recovering business sector.

What is Washington State doing to grow jobs and green business? 

They established legislation for Innovation Partnership Zones (IPZ). An IPZ is comprised of business clusters made up of partners between educational institutions, research facilities, businesses, non-profits and individuals seeking to patent their ideas. 

As new innovations emerge from the IPZ we should see a renewed demand for jobs as existing businesses expand and new start-up businesses get established.

In 2009 Washington created a Sustainable Energy Trust Fund which:

• Allows property owners to apply to the Housing Finance Commission for pre-financing for energy efficiency or renewable energy improvements
• Allows property owners up to 10 years to pay back the cost of an energy efficiency improvement and 25 years to pay back the cost of a renewable energy improvement
• Directs the commission to periodically issue Sustainable Energy Trust bonds to pay for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements
• Requires the commission to establish eligibility criteria for applicants
• Prohibits general funds from being used for the program.

Plans are in the works to install Electric Vehicle (EV) recharging stations along I-5.

Washington State is one of the recipient states to participate in the "EV Project" as part of a 230 million dollar project that includes $99.8 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and matching funds. 

"By the end of this year, we'll have installed 1,200 charging stations throughout central Puget Sound, Olympia areas," Rich Feldman with ECOtality said in an interview with King 5 News. 

It is not clear that the clean energy leadership ranking is by itself an indication that the economy is in recovery. A shift to clean energy infrastructure does provide new jobs associated with the construction of that infrastructure. It also sets the stage for a recovery that is less susceptible to fluctuating energy costs.