Sam Pardue Margie Hoffman Jules Bailey

Margie Hoffman, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s Energy Advisor, and State Rep. Multnomah County Commissioner-Elect Jules Bailey at the Indow factory. Sam tells the crowd, “Climate change is the fundamental socioeconomic issue of our time.”

It’s no secret Oregon is the epicenter of the energy efficiency movement. This week some of the most creative and effective minds in developing a more energy efficient built environment joined us on the Indow factory floor to celebrate Oregon’s commitment to the clean energy economy.

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Clean Energy Works CEO Derek Smith and Indow Windows Founder Sam Pardue

We powered down our loud saws and production stopped early while everyone gathered to talk about what the future holds now that Oregon has committed to helping fund Clean Energy Works, a nonprofit providing home performance upgrades throughout the state.

Governor Kitzhaber’s Energy Advisor Margie Hoffman, State Rep. and Multnomah County Commissioner-Elect Jules Bailey, Clean Energy Works CEO Derek Smith and Tom Kelly, president of Neil Kelly, all took the podium to speak about the important work ahead.

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Our factory floor was packed! We’re glad to see so much support right here at home.

It’s exciting to think the state’s $10 million investment will lead to energy upgrades in 600,000 homes, 60,000 good jobs and ultimately $100 billion in economic development opportunity.

Every day at Indow Windows we’re working hard to make thermal window inserts that improve the energy efficiency of the built environment but also create good paying jobs for Oregonians. We’re committed to becoming as efficient as we can to continually raise production wages and make our product as affordable as possible. After all, there are one billion leaky single-pane windows in the U.S. that need saving!

Which leads to the most important reason we do what we do: climate change. Our CEO Sam Pardue said it well to the gathering of 100 or so people: he wants to redefine climate change not as environmental issue but one of the greatest socioeconomic challenges of our day.

While it’s hard to blame any one event on climate change, the unstable climate is leading to more catastrophic weather events like Typhoon Haiyan that slammed into the Philippines six months ago –  the most powerful storm ever recorded to hit land.

Today, two million people still live without adequate shelter and of the 18,456 classrooms destroyed, only 51 have been rebuilt. Climate change is creating devastating poverty around the world, making it imperative to shrink our carbon footprint.

“Climate change is the fundamental socioeconomic issue of our time and the work the legislature has done to fund Clean Energy Works is incredibly important,” Sam said. “It’s just the start of a long road ahead and I want to applaud you all and celebrate the work that’s been done so we can get back to work with really good hearts to do more.”

Our loud saws are back at it today!