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Look to Local Leaders, Not the Feds, on Those 'Green' Issues by George Erb, Editor Puget Sound Business Journal, April 28, 2006

When it comes to energy issues, the button-down set appears to be warming up to "green" solutions.

A new survey of Puget Sound executives reminds us, yet again, how local civic and business leaders are embracing renewable energy in the absence of meaningful federal leadership on the issue.

Hebert Research last month interviewed 196 executives and asked them, among other things, about their companies' interest in either renewable energy or energy-efficiency programs.

Thirty-seven percent of the executives said they were "highly interested," while nearly 40 percent said they were "somewhat interested." Overall, about 77 percent of these executives expressed interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Not so long ago, we would have expected to find that level of support for green-energy programs only among Washington state's college students.

Green energy initiatives are no doubt getting some political tailwind from the growing concern over global warming.

But the real power source for the green energy movement is the rising price of fuel. Hybrid vehicles tend to look more promising after spending $40 or more filling up the family car.

It comes as no surprise, then, that we are seeing a variety of green-energy initiatives on the state and local levels.

State legislators and Gov. Chris Gregoire are trying to spur the development of a biodiesel industry, and the private sector is responding with various startups.

In the Tri-Cities, Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are building a $24 million biomass lab that will turn farm waste into useable products, including biofuel.