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OLYMPIA -- There's been a lot of talk in the Capitol about green jobs since the Legislature went into session nearly a month ago.
On Thursday, Tri-City business, science and technology leaders showed up to tell lawmakers that they need look no further than Kennewick, Richland and Pasco to find green jobs in Washington.
Representatives from the Tri-City Development Council, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington State University Tri-Cities, Areva, Infinia, Energy Northwest and the Tri-Cities Research District came to talk to a joint session of two House committees focused on energy, technology and economic development.
The group touted what's happening in the energy industry in the Tri-Cities, from production of clean wind and nuclear power to solar panels manufacturing.
"At the U.S. Conference of Mayors held this past summer, the Tri-Cities ranked among the top 100 cities poised to have the most 'green collar' jobs, largely due to our technology assets and brainpower," said TRIDEC spokeswoman Deanna Smith.
"We have more engineers and Ph.D.s per capita than anywhere else in the world," she added. "... The Tri-Cities can be a valuable and reliable resource in helping you put together a comprehensive energy plan and strategy for the state that can lead to the creation of green-collar jobs, and foster entrepreneurism that will ultimately create the new technologies needed for additional sustainable and renewable energy."
Renewable energy and green jobs have been a focal point of a plan announced by Gov. Chris Gregoire last week to tackle greenhouse gas emissions by spurring new technologies that in turn will help create jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Smith and others said work being done in the Tri-Cities can help lead the way, but they also urged the Legislature to give technology businesses incentives to start up and stay in Washington, whether with tax breaks or by allowing small-scale hydropower plants to be classified as renewable resources.
Bob Link, manager of Environmental Health and Safety Licensing for Areva, talked about the company's operations in the state, which employ about 1,100 people in power-generating operations that produce no greenhouse gases.
Much of that is focused on nuclear power, which Link said should be an important piece of a clean energy strategy.
He said there are 104 nuclear power plants operating in the United States that produce about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. And he noted that nuclear power plants are recycling the vast majority of their fuel, making them an environmentally friendly energy source.
"We believe nuclear power must continue to be the workhorse for the world," Link said.
But he warned that increasing taxes on companies such as Areva likely would result in their moving elsewhere.
The Tri-Cities lost a $2 billion Areva uranium enrichment plant to Idaho last spring when Idaho launched a strong public campaign to win the plant, but Gov. Gregoire used what her supporters called a "balanced approach" of not publicly promoting or opposing the project. She continued that approach even after being warned that Washington appeared to be running second.
The proposed plant would have employed at least 400 people with an annual payroll near $30 million and would have helped ensure that Areva continues to employ 600 people at its Richland plant. Some fear it may be more efficient for Areva eventually to combine all operations in Idaho.
"We understand your significant budget challenge, but please understand that we compete globally, including against the other Areva plants," Link said.
A presentation by Jack Baker, vice president of energy and business services for Energy Northwest, focused on how it has diversified beyond nuclear power to also include wind, solar and hydropower.
The agency provides about 10 percent of the electricity distributed throughout the Northwest by the Bonneville Power Administration, he said.
But with electric vehicles appearing to be the way transportation is headed, Baker said nuclear power will be needed to generate enough electricity.
"This is a message you want to hear," Baker said. "I believe we are going to electrify our transportation, but the power is going to have to come from somewhere."
Diahann Howard, executive director of the Tri-Cities Research District, encouraged the Legislature to continue supporting development of innovation partnership zones that can attract technology startups, while Jason Modrell, Infinia's manager of government programs and business development, gave examples of how it is developing solar technology.
Modrell said most of Infinia's products are being sold in Spain because of government incentives there. He urged state lawmakers to consider similar incentives.
John Holladay, PNNL's chemical and biological process chief scientist, and Birgitte Ahring, director of WSU Tri-Cities' Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy, touted the partnership between the laboratory and the university in developing technologies to convert biomass materials such as wheat straw and wood waste into biofuels.
Ahring, a Danish scientist WSU hired last year as a star researcher under a new state program, told lawmakers the state should focus on converting agricultural waste into biofuels and other products.
"It's something so obvious to me that the first thing we have to focus on is something already there," she said.
