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 libby.tucker@gmail.com.

The post Oregon isn't chickening out appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Two weeks after the stock market dramatically plummeted for the first time in two decades, dozens of Oregon’s elected officials and renewable energy advocates gathered to celebrate the grand opening of SolarWorld in Hillsboro.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.), among others, proclaimed the new solar cell factory a shining light in a darkening economy and held it up as an example of good things to come for the state’s clean technology and renewable energy industries.

“Oregon and its private partners are committed to making this technology, which is critical to energy security and cutting greenhouse gases, a powerful job-creating engine for the Oregon economy,” said Gov. Ted Kulongoski at SolarWorld’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in October.

For the most part, they’re right. Oregon economists and industry analysts agree the renewable energy and clean technology sectors are poised for growth as the state tackles greenhouse gas emissions, rising energy costs and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The SolarWorld plant alone will provide 1,000 new jobs by 2011, according to the company.

“We think moving forward on renewable energy is really one of the ways to bring us out of the slumping economy,” says Rachel Shimshak, director of Renewable Northwest Project. “Those are the jobs people need to be trained for.”

Despite its long-term promise, however, the clean energy industry isn’t immune to the current economic downturn. Tighter credit markets will make it harder for energy developers to finance projects. And falling oil prices paired with the general decline in consumer spending makes home energy efficiency and renewable energy installations less competitive, says Joe Cortright, an economist on the governor’s council of economic advisors.

“In terms of an anti-recession measure, (clean tech won’t be effective). In terms of a good long-term strategy for the state it’s our salvation,” says Cortright. “It’s hard for a state to change the trajectory of what is a national and a global recession.”

Growth Potential

The Oregon employment division doesn’t yet track employment data for the clean energy industry, which it still splits among various job categories, including manufacturing and construction. But analysts and advocates insist the industry is still growing, albeit more slowly.
“Right now, we’re still seeing an expansion in clean energy,” says Ron Pernick, an analyst and consultant with Clean Edge in Portland. “I think we’ll hear about other solar companies coming in to do manufacturing, wind power is booming with significant expansion, and the smart grid is going to be one of the next big areas of growth.”

Oregon and Washington have the potential to create between 41,000 and 63,000 jobs by 2025 in solar manufacturing, green building design, wind power development, bioenergy, and smart grid technologies, according to a report released last month by Clean Edge and Climate Solutions.

Developers and manufacturers are still investing in new projects in the state, says Shimshak, and new and existing renewable energy companies are having some difficulty finding qualified workers to fill open positions.

Seven solar manufacturers, including SolarWorld, XSunX, and Sanyo, announced $1.5 billion worth of capital investments in Oregon over the past two years. The projects promise to create more than 2,000 jobs and generate 1,000 megawatts of solar power capacity a year.  And together they’ll make Oregon the largest solar manufacturing state in the country.

“Every dime that’s invested in this future is highly profitable,” says Frank Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld. “It’s a market for SolarWorld of approximately $200 billion a year in the U.S. … within the next 10 years.”

The surge in solar power projects follows a similar rise in wind power projects in 2006, which saw the completion of seven new wind farms within one year in Oregon, according to Renewable Northwest Project. Wind developers during that period invested $1.38 billion in capital projects and created 1,400 construction jobs and 80 new permanent jobs for operation and maintenance.

Success depends on policy

Current state and federal policies that create incentives for renewable energy development in part account for the industry’s continued growth throughout the downturn.  Oregon’s renewable portfolio standard, passed by the 2007 Legislature, requires utilities to provide 25 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2025. The state’s two major electric utilities will continue to develop new renewable energy projects as a result.

“If we’re going to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements, we need to go where the wind is and that isn’t always where transmission is, so development will continue on full steam ahead,” says Pat Reiten, president of Pacific Power, which has six wind projects under construction. “The investments continue to make sense.”

Also contributing to the industry’s continued growth is the state’s Business Energy Tax Credit, which allows companies to deduct as much as 50 percent of eligible project costs for renewable energy projects from their income taxes. Paired with the recent extension of the national Investment Tax Credits (ITC) for renewable energy, passed by Congress last month as part of the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, the credit significantly lowers the cost of clean energy development.

“With the passage of ITC extension for eight years, that sets us on a real defined course for the first time ever in this sector,” says Desari Strader, executive director of the Oregon Solar Energy Industry Association and a Washington County Commissioner. “People want to invest here. They want to get off the traditional grid. But it’s going to take some investment by the state.”

Continued growth in the sector relies on the continuation of current incentives as well as a whole slate of new policies, investors and advocates say.

Renewable energy projects require a large upfront investment, and most developers, unless they’re backed by a large holding company, borrow money to carry the project through until it can begin generating enough electricity to pay off the debt. And with higher lending standards and tighter credit, developers are having a harder time securing money for projects, says Wayne Embree, managing partner of Reference Capital Management in Tigard.

That means developers are facing a shortage of financing at exactly the time when the state should be investing more money, says Embree.  Early-stage product development and a focus on research and job training will help position the state economy for rapid growth when the economy does improve.

Oregon’s clean energy industry is so far strongly supporting Kulongoski’s range of proposals to address climate change and grow the state’s clean energy industry. The 2009 Legislature will likely consider new tax breaks for energy efficiency projects and financing options to help homeowners pay for renewable energy project and efficiency upgrades.

“Just because we’re in a difficult economic situation, this is not a time to retreat from our commitment to (reversing) climate change (and) reductions of CO2 emissions,” said Kulongoski at the grand opening of SolarWorld. “At this time you have to start actually making greater investments in alternative energy.”

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Oregon legislators will take a closer look at state energy incentives next year amid a slowing economy and an estimated budget shortfall of at least $524 million, according to the Department of Administrative Services.

The Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC), which offers state tax breaks for up to 50 percent of renewable energy project costs and 35 percent of efficiency, transportation and recycling projects, has been a boon to developers seeking financing. But the 2009 Legislature will likely reallocate the credits, saving or expanding tax breaks for some efficiency projects and cutting incentives for large renewable energy projects.

“All tax credits are probably going to be revisited and the BETC needs to be looked at,” said Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, (D-Portland). “Clearly it’s bringing companies to Oregon, and we want to continue that success. But it’s a legitimate discussion we need to have.”

Tax breaks for new manufacturing facilities, like those the state recently gave SolarWorld in Hillsboro and Sanyo in Salem, as well as commercial efficiency upgrades, will likely remain untouched in a budget sweep. Clean tech companies looking to relocate or expand in Oregon have demonstrated strong interest in the tax credits, and the program is already reaping some rewards.

The BETC saved participating companies $46 million in energy costs in 2006, and the state expects the incentive to fund projects that lead to at least 889 new jobs statewide each year, according to a 2007 Oregon Department of Energy report.

But tax breaks for some projects, such as large-scale wind farms, could be “recalibrated,” said David Van’t Hof, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s sustainability advisor. The 50-percent tax break for large renewable projects, for example, could be reduced or even eliminated if lawmakers determine the state has reached its goals for project development.

“As some of these programs get market share and are established, we can start reducing the credits for those and start shifting them to the next generation of opportunity,” said Van’t Hof.

The Oregon Center for Public Policy supports the change. They contend that the state is giving away money when it gives tax breaks to renewable energy developers that turn around and sell the power to California. The money should stay in Oregon to create jobs and generate clean power for the state, said Chuck Sheketoff, executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

“I don’t know if building wind farms to sell power to California should be a high priority for state tax dollars when our schools and health care aren’t getting funded,” said Sheketoff.

At the same time, Kulongoski said last month in a speech announcing his climate change agenda, that he wants to further expand the BETC in 2009. Under the proposal, the state would raise the existing 35-percent tax credit to 50 percent of eligible costs for companies that create energy-efficient products, similar to what the 2007 Legislature did when it raised the credit to 50 percent for renewable-energy projects.

It’s unclear whether Oregon businesses will actually take advantage of the tax credits during lean times, however. Applications for the BETC were down slightly in October at 339 companies compared to 369 in October last year, according to the Oregon Department of Energy.

Some businesses that are eligible for the BETC and would normally apply have chosen to delay projects, despite the potential long-term energy and cost savings, said Steve Lacey, director of energy efficiency programs for the Energy Trust of Oregon.

“With the economic situation out there being so uncertain, a lot of the businesses able to take advantage of the BETC are moving slower,” said Lacey. “They’re tightening the belt and weathering the storm and making expenditures only where they really need to make them.”

The Energy Trust, which bundles its own incentives with the state BETC to create affordable energy-efficiency projects for companies, has already seen fewer projects advance over the past six months. As a result, the Trust lowered the amount of energy it expects its projects to save this year by 5 percent.

In January the Trust estimated it would complete enough efficiency projects to save 315,000 megawatt-hours of energy this year. The Trust now estimates the savings will be closer to 296,000 megawatt-hours this year.

Uncertainty in the economy also deters some companies that would normally buy the BETC tax credits from companies to help lower their tax burden. An option to pass through incentives to companies willing to buy the credits provides cash for projects upfront. But the tax benefits are spread out over five years, and in an unstable market, it’s hard for companies affected by the downturn to predict what their tax burden is going to be.

“Renewable energy projects, especially in Oregon because of our relatively lower cost of power, just don’t pencil out without government subsidies,” said Robert Manicke, a tax attorney with Stoel Rives who works with renewable energy companies. “Transferability makes the project easier to actually get built.”

But some businesses will continue to take advantage of the tax credits, especially in industries in which efficiency upgrades bring enormous potential energy and cost savings, said Jon Thomsen, president of Ecos, a green consulting firm in Portland. 

“We see tightening of corporate budgets, but we’re still getting new businesses because efficiency is usually the most cost-effective solution to lower resource costs,” said Thomsen. “Businesses should focus on strengthening customer relationships, driving efficiencies and eliminating any waste.”

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Oregon could lead the country in new green jobs over the next few years but only if the state enacts the “right” policies, state business leaders, legislators and advocates agree. And so far, the only clear policy proposals for the 2009 Legislature have come from Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who released a whopper of a climate change package last month.  His broad list of proposals constitutes sweeping changes in each of four areas, including greenhouse gas reductions, energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable transportation.

But the question remains whether stakeholders agree that the governor’s legislative proposals are “right” for Oregon – especially in tough economic times. Unemployment rates are on the rise, the state faces a $524 million budget shortfall and it’s unclear how the state will pay for new programs.

Kulongoski hasn’t yet laid out the cost of his climate change package. Neither has he provided any details about who would bear the costs or reap the potential economic benefits.

“If you can’t figure out how to implement (the proposals) it’s a waste of everybody’s time,” says Jon Chandler, CEO of the Oregon Home Builders Association. “It will be too easy to derail and strangle this.”

Whole package might not survive

Broad support exists for the basic ideas behind the governor’s package – lowering greenhouse gas emissions, fueling economic growth by creating green jobs and cutting costs through energy savings – but success in the legislature depends on securing money and hammering out the details.

The $700 billion federal bailout of the financial system will have a huge impact on the state’s ability to implement a large climate change agenda, says Phil Barnhart, a Democrat from Eugene and chair of the House revenue committee. If the bailout successfully restores banks’ confidence in lending and interest rates remain low, the state will be able to borrow money to pay for new programs, he says. But that’s a big “if.”

“That will be the time to do infrastructure development; things we have to do anyway, we should do when we can pay less for it,” says Barnhart. “I’m against borrowing money to spend on the budget, but it’s OK if it’s a long-term investment.”

Though funding for regular budget items like education, health care and public safety will suffer as a result of revenue shortfalls, he says, the state will continue to issue bonds for long-term investments. When it comes to new spending, legislators will likely look for projects and programs that both lower greenhouse gas emissions and produce long-term benefits for the state economy and infrastructure, said Barnhart.

The governor’s energy efficiency proposals have received the most attention and support as an area that not only has potential for economic growth but also cost savings.

“We’re hot on whatever efficiency we can do – it will likely be worth it,” says Jeff Bissonette, organizing director of the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon. “Financially, maybe now isn’t a good time. But the investment increases in value over time (as energy costs rise) and gives consumers greater security and a greater return.”

Choosiness about which projects receive funding will likely mean the governor’s proposal will be split into pieces based on legislative support and short-term financial feasibility.

“I don’t see a whole separate energy agenda coming out of the Legislature (next year),” says Jackie Dingfelder, a Democrat representing Portland in the Oregon House. “But it will build upon many of the successes of the 2007 session and make sure we can continue to grow jobs in Oregon and invest in research.”

The coming months will see an onslaught of new legislative proposals, each competing with a piece of the governor’s agenda. The Home Builders Association, for example, likes the governor’s proposal for home energy performance certificates, which would rank a home’s carbon footprint similar to the miles-per-gallon rating on a car, says Chandler. But the HBA opposes new green building standards and plans to submit its own alternative to the governor’s proposal to achieve net-zero homes and buildings by 2030, he says.

Examining proposals solely on their short-term costs, or even the long-term economic benefits doesn’t complete the picture. Environmental advocates will also press legislators to view the proposals for their ultimate goal – slowing climate change. 

“There are proposals and ways to fund this but a lot of it isn’t about spending money,” says Andrea Durbin, executive director of the Oregon Environmental Council. “You’ve got to take into account that one of the goals is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

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Portland Public Schools plans to start work this fall on its first “high performance” classroom – a prototype net-zero energy building that could eventually replace the district’s portable classrooms.

Da Vinci Arts Middle School in Northeast Portland has secured more than $770,000 to build a sustainable stand-alone classroom addition to house its music program, which currently occupies a portable trailer. The 1,500-square-foot space would be built to LEED platinum standards with the goal of generating all of its own electricity on site.

When it’s complete, the Da Vinci addition would be the first LEED platinum-rated public school in Portland and perhaps in the nation, according to the Portland Office of Sustainable Development.

“I see schools turning to these mobile units, and they’re not always healthy or energy efficient; they’re chosen for the low cost,” said Alisa Kane, a green building coordinator with OSD. “If (PPS) can be the first out of the gate with a new portable classroom model, I could see it have a widespread use across the country.”

“It will be setting a standard and a model nationally for green design,” said Robb Cowie, a spokesman for Portland Public Schools. “It’s a way of not just demonstrating the school district’s commitment to sustainability, but testing, at a small scale, what kind of return we get in using green design.”

The school board approved the project last spring, and the district pledged $250,000 to help cover the cost. Da Vinci administrators, teachers and parents then set about collecting more than $400,000 in gifts, grants and incentives toward the cause, including pro bono design services from SRG Architects and consultant Green Building Services.

But the project, originally scheduled to break ground in August, stalled after construction estimates came in higher than the district expected. General contractor Todd Hess Building Co., which submitted the lowest bid for the project, has worked with the district to bring costs down to $557,000 from an original construction cost estimate of $645,000 – far from the school’s original budget of $410,000.

Facing an $80,000 budget gap, the school district has applied for a grant from the Gray Family Fund, which will announce the recipients in November. But until then, the school district decided late last week to step up with a loan from its 2008 facilities budget in order to begin construction this fall.

“The school district will close the gap,” said Nancy Bond, resource conservation specialist with PPS.

Other funding sources include a $50,000 green investment fund grant from the city of Portland and the Energy Trust of Oregon and a carbon offset grant through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

To target net-zero energy, photovoltaic tiles will replace an asphalt roof providing enough solar energy to power the whole building. The design also features a daylight diffuser, natural ventilation and other green features to save energy and lower the building’s carbon footprint.

“In terms of overall energy savings as a percentage of the whole school, it would be a small percentage,” said Glen Phillips, a consultant on the project with Green Building Services. “And in terms of overall global energy use it’s probably nominal. But in terms of the ability to educate the students, there is a real impact.”

The new 900-square-foot building will provide space for the school band rehearsals as well as an individual practice room and a recording studio. After-school music programs such as a garage band class and jazz ensemble would also use the space, which the school would make available to the community for music education, said Connie Cheifetz, community liaison with Da Vinci Arts Middle School.

During construction the builder will also bring students from the Northwest College of Construction and the Architecture Construction and Engineering Academy charter high school to demonstrate green building concepts.

“(Da Vinci) wants to show the school district what all can be done on school buildings,” said Todd Hess, owner of Todd Hess Building Co. “They’re trying to do a smaller, all-encompassing test project and see what really works.”

The school board, which meets again Sept. 29, must still give final approval for the project before the builder can sign a construction contract. But if the contractor is given the green light to proceed, work can begin as early as October, said Hess.

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It’s hard to find a home builder in Oregon these days that hasn’t heard about sustainable practices, yet the majority of new homes in the state are still built to the bare minimum standards set by state building codes.

A few new programs now exist to help builders aim higher – and prepare them for stricter green building codes – with training and resources on the latest energy efficiency and sustainable building practices for new and remodeled homes.

Starting Sept. 26, Earth Advantage will offer a six-month certification course in green building for appraisers, architects, builders, real estate agents, inspectors and other building industry professionals. The Oregon Home Builders Association also plans to launch a pilot project this month with the city of Portland to build eight to 12 high-efficiency homes throughout the city to serve as models for green building practices.

“There’s a small population of builders who are extremely advanced and push us to improve our programs. But the majority have been building to code,” said Kendall Youngblood, residential sector manager for the Energy Trust of Oregon, which offers its own training programs for builders. The problem is, she said, “the code is the worst home you can legally build.”

In April, Oregon’s new residential building code took effect, raising energy efficiency requirements to equal EnergyStar standards for new homes. To qualify for an EnergyStar rating a home must be 15 percent more efficient than the 2004 international residential code for buildings.

The new code aims to reduce home energy use by 10 to 15 percent in the state by 2015 in order to help meet the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals of 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

State building codes officials also expect to continue increasing efficiency and sustainability standards over the next decade. Industry associations and nonprofits have taken notice and are starting to offer more training for builders that want to be prepared.

Earth Advantage’s Sustainable Homes Professional Training program promises to be the most in-depth course offered in Oregon with classroom and on-site instruction in building science fundamentals, integrated design, health considerations, energy efficiency, materials and storm-water management.

“Green building isn’t very popular right now (with home builders), but all houses are going to be built sustainable in the future,” said Bruce Butler, president of JB Hammer Designs and one of the first to enroll in the new program. “It just makes sense if I want to remain in that field I need to stay on top of that.”

Butler, whose clients include Palazzo Homes, says he’s interested in designing a line of sustainable homes and is taking the course to learn how to apply green building practices to an architectural plan.

The Home Builders Association, which plans to launch its program as early as next month, is taking a different approach to builder education. It’s planning to build or remodel sustainable homes, tracking the cost of the upgrades and the payback in energy savings from the time the homes are built to well after they’re occupied.

“Those homes being built will serve as a working lab for builders so during the building cycle they’ll be able to come into the home and see exactly what the upgrades are and how they’re being dealt with,” said Jim McCauley, vice president of government affairs with the HBA. “For a builder, building above code comes down to communication and providing them with enough resources to make it easy. That’s really the only barrier.”

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The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries prevailing wage advisory committee will meet next week with a new member and a new agenda.

Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian last week appointed Carl Redman, vice president of Bear Electric, to the 11-member committee, which sets prevailing wage rates in the state. Redman will replace John Killin, executive director of the Independent Electrical Contractors and the Associated Builders and Contractors of Oregon who stepped down in an effort to reduce the number of paid representatives on the committee.

“I’m not really coming in with an agenda,” said Redman, who is also the president of Innovation Construction. “I noticed there was only one person on the committee that was actually in the business of employing people. Everyone else was paid representatives.”

Redman joins the group just as it sets its legislative agenda for the 2009 session. Among the concepts it will consider at its Sept. 17 meeting is a bill to require timely payment to workers on a prevailing wage project and increased penalties for contractors reporting false wages. BOLI proposals also include providing more time to give notice on contractor bond claims and adjusting the prevailing wage fee calculator.

“Most of that’s just little technical fixes,” said Bob Shiprack, executive secretary of the Oregon Building Trades Council and a member of the committee. “The one of substance is the bizarre case where a contractor didn’t pay his workers. That bill will clarify there are paydays. Obviously for union contractors our paydays are set by a collective bargaining agreement.”

Prevailing wage is shaping up to be a much smaller issue in the 2009 session than it was two years ago when legislators wrestled over the application of prevailing wage rates in projects funded by a mix of public and private dollars. Instead, the committee is likely to look for ways to make wage surveys easier for Oregon contractors to help boost the number of surveys returned to BOLI this year.

The BOLI committee is just one of many groups that could bring prevailing wage issues to the legislature, however.

“We haven’t developed an agenda within prevailing wage, but I’m sure there are other groups that have,” said Killin. “I would expect there’s some agenda coming there, but I don’t know what it is.”

The post Will prevailing wage be a non-issue in 2009? appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Walgreens will begin installing solar panels on most of its Oregon stores this month, starting with a North Portland location. The store, at 6116 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., will be the first of 19 stores in Portland and 47 stores statewide that are slated for solar installations by contractor SunEdison over the next few years.

Three years ago, Walgreens committed to install solar systems on 100 of its 6,400 stores nationwide as part of a promise to its corporate shareholders to go green, said Menno Enters, national energy manager for Walgreen Co., based in Illinois. And so the company, which boasted $15 billion in sales last quarter, started its mission in states with the best renewable energy incentives and tax rebates.

The task was more difficult than the company anticipated, said Enters. Most Walgreens stores occupy about 14,000 square feet – small for a commercial solar installation. And many big box store roofs aren’t designed to hold much more than a heating and cooling unit, he said.

“As luck would have it, we overdesigned our buildings structurally to withstand extreme weather conditions,” said Enters, “because we like our stores to be open before others during severe weather.”

The chain’s New Jersey stores were the first to receive solar panels, and 13 stores now generate 20 percent of their electricity with the sun. Then last year, Walgreens began installing systems on five California stores, including two distribution centers that are now generating solar electricity.

Oregon and Hawaii will be the last states to see solar-powered Walgreens stores, at least until the company can reevaluate the program, said Enters.

Walgreens is paying for the solar installations through power purchase agreements, in which a third-party owner buys and maintains the system and sells power back to the stores at market rates. And so the company isn’t likely to cut its energy bills by generating its own power, said Enters.

The installations could be a hedge against rising energy costs, however. And the company has undertaken a range of other energy efficiency measures in its stores, including installing LED lights in its freezers and implementing energy management systems that could pay off in the long term.

“It wasn’t meant to save money, as much as it was meant to fulfill our responsibility from a corporate citizenship standpoint and relieve the grid,” said Enters.  “Because we have a small footprint, the savings was minimal.” 

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A proposed national green jobs program would invest $1.2 billion in clean energy industries and create more than 27,000 jobs in Oregon by 2010, according to a report released yesterday by the Center for American Progress.

The report, titled Green Recovery: a program to create good jobs and start building a low-carbon economy, outlines each state’s share in a $100 billion program to create 2 million green jobs in two years.

“The U.S. is facing an energy crisis and an economic crisis,” said John Podesta, CEO of the Center for American Progress. “This report indicates that by making a rapid green economic investment strategy, we create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s critical we attack these problems simultaneously.”

A green jobs package would create 18 percent more jobs than increased spending on household consumption, the target of the $152 billion Economic Stimulus Act passed by Congress in April, according to the study.

The report fell short of estimating the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that would result from the green recovery program, however.

The report, completed with the Economics and Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, focuses on job creation in six areas, including retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, and investing in the smart electrical grid, wind and solar energy and advanced biofuels.

Funding for the program would come from the sale of carbon allowances to utilities and corporations in a proposed national carbon cap and trade system, which both presidential candidates have indicated they would support in 2009.

Auction proceeds would be divided among the states for a range of private and public investments. The proposal includes $50 billion in tax credits for businesses and homeowners, $46 billion for public infrastructure investments, and a $4 billion federal loan guarantee program to provide a stimulus for private investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“This is not just a program for states with a lot of wind rushing through them or those that enjoy a lot of sun all year,” said Robert Pollin, a co-director of the Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. “Retrofitting buildings will create jobs in lots of communities and reduce carbon emissions.”

The construction industry alone has lost 800,000 jobs over the past year, with employment falling to 7.2 million workers in July from 8 million a year ago.

“This program can make those jobs back,” said Pollin.

The report also claims the program will lower the country’s overall unemployment rate to 4.4 percent from the current rate of 6.1 percent, the highest in five years.

“If we want to have a major effect on global warming, we ought to go after the things that can reduce pollution as well as create jobs,” said Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers of America. “We’ve lost most of the U.S. rail industry (for example) because of the decline in use of rails. We can retrofit and redo that and have that made in America.”

The green recovery program is the first phase of a 10-year policy program outlined in a Center for American Progress 2007 report, which advocates for a national cap and trade program, creation of a White House National Energy Council to oversee energy policy, and a range of fiscal measures including a universal 401K retirement plan and debt reduction.

To see the full report, visit: www.americanprogress.org.

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With two failed attempts to limit the use of medical marijuana in the workplace, business associations are taking another hit at the legislation in 2009. Only this time, they say, they’re even more fired up about the issue.

In June, the Oregon Court of Appeals sided with a temporary worker in a discrimination case against Emerald Steel Fabricators, which had refused to hire the worker due to his status as a medical marijuana cardholder. The decision shattered Oregon employers’ last hopes that the court system would resolve the issue, and they’re now concentrating their efforts on a legislative fix.

“The uncertainty if anything has gotten worse,” said Paula Barran, an employment attorney with Barran Liebman in Portland. “Everything that happened last time, just double it in terms of frustration.”

Oregon’s medical marijuana act, passed by voters in 1998, allows patients with debilitating illnesses to treat their symptoms without being in violation of state law. And in 2006, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that an employer should be expected to accommodate a card-holding employee if he or she suffers from a disability that can only be treated by medicinal marijuana use.

But industry advocates argue Oregon’s medical marijuana act works against drug-free workplace policies that have become a standard for businesses in hazardous industries such as construction.

“Employers should have the ability to ensure safety on their jobs,” said John Rakowitz, a lobbyist for the Oregon-Columbia Chapter of the Associated General Contractors. “Think about the person standing next to somebody on a job site with that person perhaps impaired. They want to be safe and employers have a federal obligation to maintain a drug free workplace.”

In 2007, Senate Bill 465 offered a comprehensive legal fix to the medical marijuana act. Under the bill, employers would allow employers to enforce drug free workplace policies, regardless of whether an employee is a medical marijuana cardholder. The bill passed in the Senate, but failed in the House of Representatives.

A 2008 version of the bill, introduced in the special session by Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland), was a pared down version of bills that failed in previous sessions. Unlike the previous bills, which would have applied to all Oregon employers, the 2008 version was limited to 11 jobs deemed hazardous by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration, including construction, law enforcement, forest services and some manufacturing.

But the bill never made it to the floor for a vote. It failed to garner support from some business associations, including the Associated Oregon Industries, which thought the bill made too many concessions. In some ways, the associations were holding out hope that the Court of Appeals would clarify the law and a legislative fix wouldn’t be needed, said Rich Meneghello, an employment attorney with Fisher & Phillips in Portland.

This time, the associations are banding together again to craft a comprehensive bill similar to the 2007 pot bill.

“I’m pretty certain we will see something in 2009 that’s not going to be a compromise,” said Meneghello. “It will exempt employers from having to accommodate those that show up with medical marijuana in their system.

“In a weird way,” he said, “I think the court of appeals decision in June could actually help businesses.”

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