Rendell: Green Economy Can Lead to Secure Future

With much of the nation still feeling the lingering effects of the recession, Pennsylvania and the whole country can move toward a stronger economy if it commits to a green, sustainable future. That's according to Governor Ed Rendell who made the remarks at Aquar America's 1.1 megawatt Ingram's Mill Solar Farm in West Chester, one of the newest such facilities on the East Coast. Rendell says supporting a low-Carbon Economy leads to job creation and increasing renewable energy use which are important for a secure economic future......
"Too many people think that protecting the environment and improving economic competitiveness is an either or proposition. This is absolutely false."
Rendell said Pennsylvania's new Climate Change Action Plan forms a blue print to help businesses and households reduce energy consumption and cut expenses. Rendell says Pennsylvania generates a little less than 1% of the world's greenhouse gases but this plan would cut emissions by 42% from 2000 levels by 2020.
The governor says the Commonwealth has been recognized as one of the fastest growing states for wind energy production and will be among the top five in solar production by the end of 2010. Rendell says the state invested more than $900 million in new energy technologies between 2003 and 2008 in 560 projects involving 8,300 jobs.