BlueOregon: Keep investing in Oregon's clean energy economy: "We know that we are hurting in Oregon, but it could be worse, much worse. We read about layoffs, see shuttered stores and miss our favorite restaurant. But there is a bright spot in Oregon’s economy and yes, it is green. A report released this week from the Pew Center on the States (PDF) shows that the emerging clean energy economy “grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs” between 1998 and 2007.
Oregon led the pack in this transformation, one of the three states with the largest and fastest-growing energy economy. Oregon had 19,340 green jobs in 2007, an increase of over 50 percent according to the Pew study. Jobs in Oregon’s clean energy economy now comprise over 1 percent of all jobs in Oregon – the highest percentage of any state in the nation. This job growth has occurred in a remarkably short time and can continue as we transition from fossil fuels to clean, more efficient energy sources.
We have seen how this focus has buoyed key areas of the state that have focused on the clean economy. The Oregonian reported last weekend that The Dalles, with a wind training program and new jobs and tax revenues from the wind industry, is doing better than many other communities. New solar manufacturing plants are ..."
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