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With predictions that the country’s current economic crisis will lead to another Great Depression, my neighbors joined a growing number of Americans shifting to a conservative investment approach. They bought chickens.

Repainting my back porch in preparation for the coming rain, I could hear them clucking and pecking in the yard next door. Similarly, I hear reports on the radio of scared people planting gardens for the first time – cabbages like to root in cold weather, apparently.

I’m not knocking chickens or gardens. If the economy completely crashes and I can’t buy eggs, I’m gonna wish I had some chickens. But I can’t imagine what would happen if we all responded to the downturn with a strategy akin to stockpiling canned goods for Y2K. After all, the decisions we make as consumers, businesses and policymakers over the coming months and years will decide just how deep this current crisis goes.

Oregon has its share of frantic chicken-buying. But for the most part, the state’s elected officials, business owners, leaders and environmental advocates say this isn’t the time to be conservative. Instead, they say, let’s position the state to lead the nation in job creation after the current recession lifts – and it will eventually – by adopting policies that help grow the clean-energy sector.

To that end, Gov. Ted Kulongoski recently announced his climate change agenda for the 2009 Legislature. He’s rejected arguments that the state can’t afford to invest more money in renewable energy and clean technology, despite a projected $524 million (and climbing) revenue shortfall. Instead, he proposed a range of new initiatives, including an extension of the Business Energy Tax Credit, a carbon cap-and-trade program and a goal of net-zero emissions homes and businesses by 2030.

Oregon should invest in infrastructure while interest rates are low, workers are available and materials costs are lower, agrees Rep. Phil Barnhart (D-Lane and Linn counties), chairman of the House revenue committee. The state should use the rainy day fund it set up in 2007 to back bonds for long-term investments focused on clean modes of transportation and renewable energy, he says.

If the state’s investment strategy pays off, Oregonians will have a cleaner environment, more high-paying jobs and a competitive edge. And that’s much better than a basket of eggs and some old chickens.

Libby Tucker is a Portland freelance reporter who covers energy, technology and business. The creative brain behind Naked Energy, a blog that presents the “bare facts about all things energy in the Northwest,” she can be reached at [email protected].