Why We Need More Leaders Like Gov. Kulongoski

 On August 1st, I reported on the results of Oregon’s 2009 legislative session, and expressed a hope that Governor Ted Kulongoski would veto two bills rolling back incentives for renewable energy in this state.  I’m incredibly excited to say that I just learned Kulongoski vetoed both bills this past Friday! 

The bills Kulongoski struck down were House Bill 2472, which attempted to roll back the amount of money set aside for tax credits to renewable energy projects; and House Bill 2940, which would have undercut the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard that the Oregon legislature passed in 2007.  You can read the press release here.

With the specter of these two bills gone, the overall picture coming out of Oregon’s 2009 session looks a lot better.  We passed some groundbreaking laws on clean energy and green jobs, which I described in my August 1st post.  And now our governor has shown that his commitment to building this state’s green energy economy is more than just talk.  Congrats to Governor Kulongoski: we need more leaders like him!

P.S. – if you live in Oregon, you can call Kulongoski and thank him at 503-378-4582

2 Responses to “Why We Need More Leaders Like Gov. Kulongoski”


  1. 1 tuttle tuttle Aug 11th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    i duno, i’m personally of the camp that we DON’T need any more white male leaders

  2. 2 Nick Engelfried Aug 12th, 2009 at 12:08 am

    Just to clarify, in this post I was complimenting Governor Kulongoski’s POLICY DECISIONS – not his whiteness or his maleness. Though I’d think that would have been pretty obvious already.

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About Nick


Nick is a freelance writer, climate activist, and a graduate student at the University of Montana. He got his start in activism by helping to establish a new campus recycling system at Portland Community College; since then he has organized to stop fossil fuel projects and open up space for clean energy in Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Nick is currently working with activists throughout the Greater Northwest to protect Northwest communities from coal export projects. When not in school or organizing for a clean energy future, he can be found hiking in the natural areas around Missoula, bird watching, or writing a novel.

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