Governor Gary Locke’s Remarks
Governor’s Energy Awards
December 21, 2004

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Governor’s Energy Awards.

It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as your governor the past seven-plus years. I am very proud of all that we’ve been able to accomplish together for an environmentally sustainable Washington. But we have much more work ahead of us so I hope the new governor continues to keep our state on a path toward sustainability.

A sustainable Washington has been a top priority throughout my administration.

· I’ve created a Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel that laid out an action plan to incorporate energy efficient measures within state government;
· I signed an executive order in January 2001 mandating state government agencies to reduce their energy usage by 10 percent saving the state $3 million in the first year;
· I signed another executive order a couple of months ago, which sets aggressive goals for all new state buildings to be built to green building standards. These standards ensure that state buildings will use energy and resource efficient technologies and achieve up to 30% annual savings in utility and operating costs, as well as create more productive workspaces;
· When the legislative session begins next month, I will be introducing executive request legislation that will include both renewable and energy efficiency planning requirements for publicly owned utilities. I am also proposing the adoption of state standards for improved energy efficiency in thirteen commercial and home products. These standards will provide a net value energy savings through 2020 of $425 million – nearly four times the cost of our state capitol renovations;
· Our state capitol is an example of our sustainability efforts and has gained national recognition for achieving sustainability goals in an historic building. Ninety-one percent of the construction material was recycled, and wood used to protect historic marble was donated to Habitat for Humanity to frame three new homes; and
· The emphasis on sustainability received national recognition and led to another significant achievement. This month, in partnership with Puget Sound Energy, BP and Chelan PUD, we are installing the largest solar array in the nation on a state capitol building. Solar panels will be placed on the fifth floor roof where they will generate enough power to light the dome and lantern. This project demonstrates the practical application of solar energy technology and its compatibility with historic buildings.

We need to continue to educate our citizens, draw attention to trends in the quality of our social and natural capital and work to nurture clean technologies and industries in our state.

The Governor’s Energy Awards I’m presenting today give us is a great opportunity to focus on some of the outstanding work that is being done by people and organizations who want to do their part to make sure Washington State can maintain a high quality of life for its citizens far into the future.

I value and deeply appreciate your hard work, your leadership and your long-term commitment to being efficient, economical and environmentally sustainable. Every one of you and the programs you stand behind inspire hope. You represent the best of our ingenuity, our creativity and our capacity for solving problems with boldness and innovation. You make me proud to live in Washington State. And you make me confident we can overcome the challenges to creating a sustainable Washington.

And now, let’s present the awards.