Tenn. Governor wants more clean energy jobs, What About Ohio?

[irishbobcat]

Tenn. Governor wants more clean energy jobs, What About Ohio?
   Dec 17, 2008   Tennessean   
   In the wake of this week's announcement of a billion-dollar Clarksville plant to manufacture solar technology components, Gov. Phil Bredesen asked energy policy advisers Tuesday to renew efforts to find strategies for attracting clean energy jobs to Tennessee. "How do we beat our neighbors, in terms of creating those jobs here in the state of Tennessee?" Bredesen asked his panel of 17 advisers on the Governor's Energy Policy Task Force. The comments came during what was supposed to be the eighth and final meeting of the Governor's Energy Policy Task Force, in which two working groups presented a series of final recommendations, intended to partly form the foundation for a statewide energy policy. Bredesen, with a slight tone of impatience in his voice, asked members of one working group for more concrete ways to lure investment to Tennessee over other states. He told the panel that he was not looking for the kinds of general recommendations that the group had delivered, but specific proposals for bringing in jobs, and requested that the group continue to meet, though less regularly.The task force was formed in March. "I want to create some jobs in Tennessee," the governor said. "How we do we get them instead of Michigan or New York or California or Kansas or something else like that." Bredesen, who is halfway through his second term, also noted that there is a bookend to his ability to attract jobs to the state. "I've got two more years here, and I'd love to have two more Hemlocks in place. How do I get it done?" he asked task force members. Bredesen afterward said he wasn't frustrated with the recommendations but only wanted additional ones as a "blueprint for action" to make sure that Tennessee benefits from the growth in new technology. Kingsport Chamber of Commerce President Miles Burdine, the chairman of the working group, took the request in stride, saying jokingly, "I'm used to being ordered around. That's not a problem." Fierce competition The governor's request for more work from the task force, coming a day after Dow Corning's announcement of its Hemlock Semiconductor plant in Clarksville, highlights the dilemmas of state governments fighting to attract jobs and investment in states buffeted by a national economic crisis. David Penn, director of the Business and Economic Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University's College of Business, said competition is high among states to lure investment in good times and bad, but stakes become higher during recessions, when fewer businesses are able to grow. "Competition could be more fierce in a recession because there are likely fewer opportunities, fewer of these companies thinking about moving or expanding," he said. "The same number of competitors, competing just as fiercely, but the pie they're competing for is getting smaller." Bredesen said his request wasn't fueled by the national economic woes afflicting Tennessee and most other states, although he acknowledged that there is a premium on job creation during bad times. "Obviously people are focused on jobs right now," he said. "But these are jobs that will be created in 2010, and -11, and –12. Certainly one hopes that we would be long beyond the current problems in the economy by that time." The task force also discussed whether any economic stimulus from Congress could provide a boost for clean energy investments. Kalee Kreider, an environmental adviser to former Vice President Al Gore, said Tennessee should be prepared to take advantage of a stimulus, such as an AmeriCorps-style green jobs program. Bredesen, though, was skeptical that assistance from Washington will be universally helpful, saying that stimulus funds would probably be a "potpourri of a lot of stuff — some good and some very political."