Newsmakers: Ron Pernick and 'Clean Tech Nation' have ideas for the next president

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Ron Pernick is the Portland-based co-author of "Clean Tech Nation." He'll be reading from the book at Powell's on Sept. 17. 

When Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder published "The Clean Tech Revolution" in 2007 is was deemed by one reviewer as "required reading for any responsible citizen of this planet."

Now Pernick, who is based and Portland, and Wilder have published a follow-up: "Clean Tech Nation: How the U.S. can lead in the new global economy."

In this election season, the new tome should be required reading for any elected official.

In it the authors take a close look at how the U.S. is positioned in the clean economy and they offer an action plan to improve that positioning.

Clean Edge, Pernick's Portland-based research and advisory firm, publishes an annual Clean Energy Leadership Index, which tracks which states have the most activity in and policy support for clean energy, and an annual Clean Energy trends report that tracks the market for renewable energy.

Pernick will read from the book at Powell's next week — Monday, Sept. 17 at Powell's City of Books on West Burnside Street — but we caught up with him to ask a few questions about "Clean Tech Nation."

Sustainable Business Oregon: Your new book, “Clean Tech Nation,” follows up on “The Clean Tech Revolution” published in 2007. How has the landscape for clean energy changed since then?

Ron Pernick: A lot has changed in five years. From a scaling up/expansion perspective, there has been a lot of positive news. Between 2007 and today the price to install a solar PV system dropped in half, from around $7 per peak watt installed to less than $3.50 per peak watt installed globally. Renewables deployment has approximately doubled in the U.S., with wind now providing more than ten percent of electricity in 6 states, and around 20 percent in South Dakota and Iowa. Globally, Japan, Germany and China — all for different reasons — have embraced advanced clean-tech infrastructure build out. During the Great Recession, one of the few bright spots has been clean tech, and not just renewables but advanced transportation, green buildings, and energy intelligence. Indeed, clean tech isn’t shrinking; it’s starting to scale up to significant percentages for utilities, cities, states, and nations.