Posted 02.17.2009

Colorado’s new energy in the sun as Obama signs stimulus package in Denver

By Mike Cote

Playing to a roomful of Colorado colleagues that recalled last summer’s Democratic convention, President Barack Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus package Tuesday afternoon, promising to lead the country toward economic recovery as he celebrated Colorado’s new energy industry.

“We are taking big steps toward energy independence,” Obama said, noting the plan will double the amount of renewable energy produced in the United States within three years.

That’s good news for people like Blake Jones, president of Boulder-based Namaste Solar, which installed solar panels on the roof of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science—the setting for Obama’s historic bill signing—as well as the Colorado governor’s residence.

Jones, who was selected to introduce the president, said his company has grown from three people to 55 over the past three years but that projects began stalling six months ago as capital markets dried up. With the signing of the plan—which includes more than $42 billion in energy-related spending and incentives—Jones said his company plans to increase its work force 20 percent this year and 40 percent by 2010.

“There are thousands of businesses like ours that will be doing the same thing,” said Jones, who was dressed casually in a navy blue sweater. He cited a solar trade group that predicts the plan will help create 69,000 jobs this year and twice that over the next two years. The nation lost 3 million jobs last year and 600,000 just last month, Vice President Joe Biden noted in his remarks.

Obama called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history” and cited what it will do to provide a safety net for laid off workers, preserve local and state government jobs, build schools, repair infrastructure, improve transportation and create a “smart” energy grid that builds on the work being done by Xcel Energy and the city of Boulder. He said it would create or save 3.5 million jobs in the next two years, including nearly 60,000 in Colorado.

“I don’t want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems nor does it represent all that we have to do to turn our economy around,” Obama told the crowd of about 400 invited guests and media. He called the plan the “first steps to set our economy on a firmer foundation and pave the way to long-term growth and prosperity.”

While only a handful of Republicans have supported the package, Obama’s decision to sign the bill in Denver energized local Democrats.

“Thank you for believing in the promise of Colorado to help lead our nation forward,” Gov. Bill Ritter said before introducing Biden. “There is no better place for this signing ceremony than here in Colorado, the home of the new energy economy.”

State Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll, who issued Twitter posts about the event while waiting for the president to arrive, touted the national spotlight placed on Colorado.

 “It says a lot that President Obama chose to sign one of his most important pieces of legislation in Colorado,” Carroll said. “He chose to come here because Colorado has been one of the leaders in new energy to create green-collar jobs. As we move to diversify our economy nationally, Colorado is a model on how to get that done.” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar echoed that sentiment in his opening remarks, saying “Colorado is at the crossroads” of the new energy economy.

The president’s appearance confirms the importance of what the state’s research universities have been working on for the past few years, said David Hiller, executive director of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory.

“This is like a dream come true for us,” said Hiller, who oversees a coalition that includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines. “Amendment 37 (which set standards for renewable energy use for utilities in the state) was a major turning point in Colorado ... I have to give credit to Gov. Owens and the Legislature in 2005. They also began to address this issue.”

The stimulus package includes tax incentives for renewable energy. When asked whether wind, solar and biofuels can stand on their own without such subsidies, Hiller countered that the oil and gas industry also enjoys government support.

“If you rely on imported oil, that’s a very fragile and insecure supply line,” Hiller said. “We spend a lot of money with our military defending that supply line ... Yes, renewable energy also needs government support. It’s a good investment for the national taxpayers.”

No Republican senators and only a few Republican members of Congress endorsed the plan. Carroll was hopeful, though, that a few Republican governors, including California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, have voiced support.

Carroll characterized the package as a “psychological boost” for the country and said the lack of Republican support “reflects their total lack of intellectual honesty. They ran the country into the ground … and they have yet to offer any real solutions.”

While Obama’s speech was under way, local conservatives including Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute and former gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez were scheduled to talk about the plan on the steps of the Capitol.

To that Colorado Senate President Peter Groff quipped: “It’s interesting that my friends on the other side have been able to pull together a rally, but they haven’t been able to pull together a plan.” 

Groff said the stimulus package addresses short-term problems but also makes strong investments for the future, and the fact that the president chose Colorado underscores its national leadership in new energy.

“A lot of us in the West have been on this bandwagon for a long time,” Groff said.

 

 

Last updated on Feb 17, 2009 at 05:13 PM