Creating a Clean Energy Economy

In this article, the former governor of Colorado and the current director of the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, Bill Ritter Jr, encourages governors all across the U.S. to aid in the creation and development of a clean energy economy. During his term, Ritter signed over fifty pieces of legislation for clean air that not only resulted in putting Colorado in the top five of states in its amount of clean energy workers per capita, but also created thousands of jobs stimulating the economy. He claims it is the role of the state governors to help make President Obama's goal to produce 80% of America's energy from clean sources by the year 2035 into a reality. Finally, Ritter defends all this by stating that making these strides to protect the environment do not need to come at the cost of compromising production; rather they can coexist. Colorado proved this to be true by passing a bill to shut down inefficient and dirty plants and build better, cleaner ones that utilize natural gas. While governors across the nation deal with budget cuts and constraints, they should remain focused on this goal of clean energy which will in turn reduce our dependency on foreign oil, protect the environment, and create jobs.