What About Sustainable Entrepreneurship?
Governor Ted Kulongoski wants to reduce Oregon's greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020 to 10% less than 1990 levels. He's proposed to do this by making key investments in greenhouse gas reduction, energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy and sustainable transportation. These investments will help stimulate the sustainable economy by creating incentives for companies to manufacture and invest in projects in Oregon. (Read the press release here.)
I applaud the Governor for leading this initiative. As Mark Edlen, Managing Principal at Gerding Edlen, has suggested, it's not just the right thing to do, it's good for business.
But the Governor's proposals ultimately rely on innovation for their success. If you've had a chance to touch the thin film solar panels that Solar Integrated Technologies is installing for PGE (NYSE: POR) on warehouse roofs owned by ProLogis, you know what I mean. Likewise, SolarWorld AG has committed an entire wing of its 480,000 square foot factory in Hillsboro to advanced photo-voltaic research.
Beyond simply leading in sustainable behavior, Oregon must strive to lead in sustainable innovation. It's one thing for Oregonians to choose to install or buy renewable energy or drive a plug-in car, but it's another for Oregon businesses to develop the technology that produces the renewable energy or the battery for the plug-in car.
This is a hole in the Governor's proposal. Wouldn't it be a good investment to commit to fund the research and development required to create next generation technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas, promote energy efficiency and renewal energy, and facilitate sustainable transportation?
As I've said repeatedly in this blog, we should be thankful - and give the Governor credit - that Oregon encourages companies, through investments and tax credits, to stick a wind turbine in the ground or a solar panel on a roof. But I want to know what we are going to do to encourage companies to develop a more efficient wind turbine or solar panel.
I strongly encourage the Governor to include sufficient funds in his program - which is based as much on economic development as on environmental stewardship - to provide the seed capital for sustainable entrepreneurship.
