Governor John Kitzhaber's Opening Statement to the Harvesting Clean Energy Conference

Pasco, Washington
February 27, 2002

Northwest farmers have been harvesting clean energy since the first settlers erected windmills to pump water for homes and livestock, and water mills to grind grain and run saws to cut logs into lumber. Remnants of these renewable energy efforts may still be seen in the vast wheat fields of eastern Oregon and Washington, and the mill towns around which the northwest's major urban centers have grown. These "mills" serve as a reminder that the wise use of renewable resources is not a new idea, but part of a tradition that built our communities and sustained our economic growth until the Northwest was electrified by large, cheap, and often polluting power stations fueled by nuclear and fossil fuels, and large hydroelectric projects that have heavily impacted our magnificent fish runs.

This conference is an opportunity for farmers and ranchers to look back to the future. It provides an opportunity for those who live on the land and understand its complexity and its seasons to discover anew what our grandparents did as a matter of course: direct use of wind and water to power their homes and agricultural processes. It provides an opportunity to learn how to reinvent these practices by using sophisticated and more efficient wind, solar, geothermal and biomass technologies, leading to greater productivity without polluting our air and watersheds or risking the health of our children. Harvesting clean energy not only helps us better work the land, but also helps us rebuild our rural communities by providing jobs and sustainable economic development. I applaud your efforts and wish you well as you exchange information and ideas and plan for a sustainable future.