REC VP recounts Green Jobs Summit

MOSES LAKE — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden recently gave “an inspirational presentation and speech” at a Green Jobs Summit in Washington, DC, said REC Silicon senior vice president Tor Hartmann, on Tuesday.  

Hartmann attended the event and said he didn’t know if event organizers will make the summit an annual one.

“But there was a lot of participation and a lot of energy and momentum being built in Washington (DC) to get green jobs,” he explained.

It was also interesting to hear what the definition of what green jobs was and the broadness of the definition, he said.

Green jobs don’t just include renewable energy production, such as REC’s work in Moses Lake, he said.

He also mentioned green energy involving clean energy cars and construction methods.

Companies attending the summit included some window manufacturers and a company that produced energy-efficient and fish-friendly turbines for Grant County PUD, Hartmann explained.

“There was a broad range of industry represented,” he added.

He was also impressed with the level of commitment the Senate had, he said. Many senators visited the conference, not just one or two.

When he was in the nation’s capital, a funding package was being put together.

If approved, the package could provide billions of dollars to the U.S. Department of Energy as incentives for green jobs.

“It’s a good way to create additional jobs,” he says. “It’s good for the country that we’re getting away from energy sources that are pollutants.”

He said the package was approved out of committee while he was in the capital last week. People were excited that a major energy bill passed committee, he added.

Also, there’s money in the package to help people upgrade their homes to make them more energy efficient.

REC was selected to attend the event by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. All federal senators got to pick one renewable energy company from their state.

“We’re proud in Washington state to be at the forefront of clean, green, renewable energy,” Cantwell stated. “In difficult economic times, renewable energy provides not only a cheaper, more reliable source of energy, but also provides our state with good-paying, long-term, family wage jobs.”

At the event, politicians, labor and environmental groups talked about how to “support America’s clean energy economy, the creation of green jobs and training our nation’s workforce for those jobs,” according to a REC statement.

“We’re pleased to represent Washington state and the solar industry, which continues to grow and provides well-paid, green collar jobs to our state,” Hartmann stated.

In 2008, REC paid a gross amount of $5.3 million in taxes to Grant County, making the company the highest tax payer in the county, according to information provided by REC.

The company is expanding two silane gas plants  at its Moses Lake location by spending about $1.5 billion for the project.

More than 1,000 construction jobs will result. Also, about 60 full-time jobs at the plant will be added, Hartmann said earlier this year.

In Moses Lake, the company currently employees 449 people.