Governors and mayors looove green jobs!

By 1Sky summer intern Pier LaFarge. -- Luis

Over the last eight years, state Governors and local mayors across the political spectrum have taken the lead on bold energy and climate solutions, moving their states and cities forward as action on the Federal level has fallen short. The Senates Environmental and Public Works Committee held a hearing last Tuesday on the potential for green jobs creation through strong, effective climate legislation, asking Governors and Mayors from several states to testify about their experience in paving the way for aggressive federal action.

Governors Chris Gregoire of Washington, Bill Ritter of Colorado and Jon Corzine of New Jersey were all called to give testimony as part of a panel of governors from across the nation. As champions of state level energy and climate action, they brought both passion and urgency to the hearing, nearly running themselves out of breath listing off the ways in which investment in clean energy technology, energy efficiency and transportation has created green jobs and business opportunities in their states.

Gov. Gregoire was enthusiastic in her portrayal of Washington state’s successes, reminding the Committee that Washington State is ranked both the #1 state for businesses, and the #1 state for the environment, saying that “these two things are inextricably linked in my state’s economy.” Even more impressively, Washington became a leader in promoting green jobs in 2007 when it set a statewide goal in to create 25,000 green jobs by 2020. However, according to Gov. Gregoire her state entered 2009 with 47,000 green jobs, blowing the statewide target out of the water.

Robert Kiss, the Mayor of Burlington, Vermont spoke glowingly about his city’s efforts to save energy, cut heating bills and create local jobs. The highlight of his testimony was the fact that thanks to an $11 million dollar investment in energy efficiency programs, the city of Burlington uses only 1% more electricity now than it did in 1989, despite normal economic and population growth. Douglas Palmer, the Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey talked about his plans to use funds from the Green Block Grant program in Waxman-Markey to replace his city's streetlights with LEDs and make Trenton’s public buildings more energy efficient, creating jobs, saving the city money and freeing up resources for schools and other crucial investments.

The hearing was a timely reminder of the importance of local voices in the federal political debate, which can too often seem disconnected and frighteningly partisan.