Gov. Gregoire addresses alternative transportation and green energy ideas during the Fifth Annual Transportation, Technology, and Energy Conference

September 4, 2008

AS WRITTEN

Good morning, and thank you for the kind introduction.

I first want to welcome all the out-of-towners to the wonderful City of Seattle.

And to those of you from other states�

�Welcome to the epicenter of innovation and optimism � the Great State of Washington.

I also want to thank the Institute for pulling together three of the biggest issues of our time � transportation, technology, and energy � and treating them as one thing.

I don�t know about you, but when I look at the three as one � I�m filled with optimism and hope.

And the cornerstone for all of it is Washington�s incredible culture of innovation � the same kind of innovation that gave the world the best airplanes, the best produce, and the best software in the world.

So what is the fundamental challenge we all face in terms of transportation and energy?

It�s as clear and simple as the signs at our neighborhood gas stations advertising painfully high gas prices.

The price of fuel is badly hurting working families and badly hurting the nation�s economy.

And the equally simple fact is that you and I � the private and public sectors --need to do our parts to give people alternative ways to get from here to there.

And if you don�t think Washingtonians are absolutely clamoring for alternatives to gas-guzzling cars, think again!

An interesting statistic emerged a few weeks ago. The Federal Highway Administration said vehicle-miles traveled have fallen by nearly 5 percent from a year earlier � for a drop of more than 53 billion miles.

Gas is too expensive � and people are responding by not driving!

Washingtonians want alternatives � more buses, more rail, more hybrid vehicles, more efficient highways � and above all, more new technology to get us there.

We are the people who must give it to them, and are working hard to do it.

At the same time, Washingtonians want a cleaner world and green-collar jobs for their children.

They want to cut greenhouse gas emissions to reduce global warming, and they want a secure energy future so they don�t have to fight wars in far off lands.

And we are the people who must deliver -- and we are delivering.

I�m talking about � for example -- the amazing ride I took last spring in an ordinary looking SUV that is anything but ordinary.

This plug-in hybrid � the XH-150 -- is unlike anything on the road. This vehicle -- developed by the AFS Trinity Power Corporation based just across the lake in Bellevue � can get up to 150 miles a gallon.

How? AFS figured out a way to use ultra-capacitators to give a strong electrical boost for acceleration, instead of depending on gasoline combustion for that.

And I have to tell you � the acceleration would impress even a teen-age boy.

Every time I turn around, I hear or read about innovators making things happen right here in Washington.

We have taken the first step toward swapping oil for biofuels � and at the same time we have learned that the answer cannot be to substitute biofuels for food.

Did you know that the Seattle area is already carving a name for itself as a research Mecca for growing and using algae as a biofuel?

With companies including AXI, Bionavitas, Indenture and Blue Marble Energy?

Washington also is on the cutting edge of research and trials to make ethanol from wood and agricultural waste � cellulosic ethanol. Weyerhaeuser has teamed up with Chevron in an effort to develop this product. What better place than here, with all the wood products waste available?

You may already know that Washington is the third largest generator of wind power.

But did you know that Moses Lake is becoming a big player in solar energy? REC Silicon employs more than 350 people making solar power cells, and the company plans to expand and hire 170 more, and may build a plant in Wallula.

You know, I mentioned green-collar jobs. But I�m not just talking about jobs that serve Washington -- but other markets too.

If you�ve been watching the Olympics coverage, you know that China has a major problem with pollution. In fact, a large part of its industrial base has been shut down for the duration to create bluer skies over Beijing.

The Chinese know they have a problem, and the best proof of that was a conversation I had with President Hu.

He told me he understood our state was working hard to develop biofuels, and he told me his country would buy whatever we produced. There is so much opportunity � just with China alone!

So what are we doing in the public sector to create this opportunity?

The short answer is a lot� from tax incentives to big policy changes -- and in the time I have today I�ll mention some of them.

I won legislative approval this year for our far-reaching Climate Change Initiative that creates a framework to gradually wean us from our dependence on fossil fuels while creating thousands of green collar jobs. This isn�t a utopian dream. This is our future.

Our state is chairing our Western Climate Initiative � a collaboration of Washington, six other Western states, and four Canadian Provinces. We are developing a regional C02 �cap and trade� system.

This not only will cut greenhouse gas emissions, but will create a real market for fossil fuel alternatives. We�ve been waiting for the federal government to step up, but we will wait no longer.

Within our own state government, we are quickly transforming our large vehicle fleet, and right now, we are number one among the states with the most hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles.

As we all know too well, decades of under-investment has hurt our transportation system. But we are busy harnessing technology to improve traffic flow and create new funding to pay for expansion and improvement.

The new high- occupancy toll lane on State Route 167 is the prime example. Drivers pay variable tolls to use the lane � and the price goes up or down based on congestion. The HOT lane has been open since May, and it�s working.

Then we have the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which is paying for itself through tolls. Thousands of commuters use the bridge every day, and they drive straight through while electronic transponders record their tolls for later billing.

We know for a fact that commutes have turned from a nightmare to a dream because of that bridge -- and people consider the tolls a fair trade off when it means they spend less time in the car and more time with their families.

And just a critical, the commute along that corridor is much, much safer. We have seen a 60 percent drop in collisions alone in the past year even as average peak-commute speeds over the bridge doubled! You see? Safety and mobility go hand in hand!

The bottom line is that our we are using technology to reassess how we move people and goods, explore innovative funding, and come up with efficient new ways � making the roads safer at the same time.

So again � thanks to you and people just like you � we are confronting one of the biggest challenges of our time. And there is a lot of blue sky in our future.

Working together � we in the private and public sectors can solve our problems.

We can find ways to address infrastructure, funding, and the need for alternatives to move our goods and people, and we�re moving forward quickly..

We can find ways to provide affordable energy, and we�re well on the road to doing it.

And we can create thousands of green collar jobs while reducing the use of fossil fuel -- which is killing our environment and making our world more dangerous too. This we must do � It is our moral obligation.

Again, thank you for inviting me here today. I am sure this conference will create new alliances and new results for the people of Washington.

Thank You