Oh, it’s on.
After Gov. Deval Patrick declared his intention to make Massachusetts the capital of renewable energy, Gov. Bill Ritter threw down the gauntlet on behalf of his Colorado.
Patrick, who won election promising support for a groundbreaking wind farm off of Cape Cod, announced yesterday (watch the video):
I don’t just want the wind farms. I want the companies that build the turbines. I want the ones that assemble the hybrid vehicles and consult on the conservation strategies. I want the companies that design and manufacture the solar panels. The whole integrated industry ought to and can have a place in Massachusetts … I really believe that if we get this right the whole world will be our customer.
Then Ritter (watch the video) upped the ante:
Governor Patrick talks about bringing jobs to Massachusetts. We’re going to arm wrestle you for those jobs because we want those same manufacturing plants.
This competition is nothing but healthy for our energy future, as Ritter noted:
…that’s a good thing to have two governors competing for those jobs, competing in this industry to build out the turbines competing, to have the wind farms located in their state. That’s the right way for us to think about it.
Check out coverage of the trash talk at Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Boston Globe, Greeley Tribune and the Associated Press.
UPDATE: Colorado Confidential writes, “Unfortunately, watching the videotaped speeches of Gov. Ritter and Gov. Patrick, it’s impossible to tell, inside those suits and standing behind a podium, who will be the likely winner.”
