News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 21, 2000
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Clean energy means economic opportunity, Locke says

OLYMPIA - Developing clean energy sources will help protect Washington's environment while putting the state in the vanguard of a new industry worth trillions of dollars, according to Gov. Gary Locke.

The governor is scheduled to promote the environmental responsibilities and economic possibilities of clean energy at the Earth Day 2000 Celebration: Clean Energy Now at 11:45 a.m. at the Seattle Center's Mural Amphitheater tomorrow (April 22).

Thirty years ago, some 20 million Americans went into the streets to demonstrate on behalf of a healthy environment.

Locke will contend that decades-old arguments that environmentally responsible businesses couldn't make money are wrong.

"If it's environmentally smart, it's a veritable gold mine," Locke notes.

The governor reports some 90 percent of the electricity produced today comes from "dirty" energy sources, such as fossil and nuclear fuels. He adds that scientists predict clean sources will produce half the world's energy in 50 years, representing a potential market of trillions of dollars.

Washington already has a vital foundation of clean energy-producing industries that someday could rival the state's contributions to the high-tech industry.

Locke is scheduled to speak at 11: 45 a.m.

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