Gov. Jay Inslee made his sales pitch Thursday for Washington as the state for Nordic enterprises to do business in the climate tech and clean energy economy.
“This is what we do in my state, we innovate,” he said. “We innovated with the first commercial airplane, the Boeing 707. We innovate with software under Microsoft, we innovate in retail with Amazon. This is what we do in Washington state and what you do in the Nordic countries.”
Speaking to attendees of the Nordic Innovation Summit in Seattle, Inslee kicked off by highlighting the region’s strong connection with Scandinavian countries since the city’s founding.
“I want to thank the Nordic people for giving us a value system that is so effective,” he said, drawing a connection to the state’s environmental consciousness, early adoption of community-oriented healthcare, and its aggressive pursuit of renewable energy.
Some 400 people registered for the two-day event, which was hosted by the Nordic National Museum. It drew corporate and political leaders from Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark and included Scandinavian businesses that have already set up shop in the Pacific Northwest.
“This is the single greatest economic opportunity, perhaps in the history of humankind on this planet.”
– Gov. Jay Inslee
Inslee made the case that state policies — including those requiring the use of clean energy, a mandate to move away from gas-powered vehicles, and prohibitions on the use of fossil fuels in new buildings — creates a strong market for climate friendly technologies. Inslee and others at the summit also cited the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act as an essential driver of growth in the sector.
Washington is already home to a range of clean tech companies making headlines for their progress. Helion Energy earlier this week announced a partnership with Microsoft to build the world’s fusion plant. Group14 and Sila Nanotechnologies are constructing giant manufacturing facilities to produce advanced battery materials. Green aviation companies are conducting groundbreaking flights. And the state is in the running to become one of the U.S. hydrogen hubs.
The governor, who recently announced he would not seek a fourth term in office, encouraged attendees to keep bringing their investment dollars, technologies and partnerships to the state to keep expanding the climate tech sector.
“This is the single greatest economic opportunity, perhaps in the history of humankind on this planet,” he said, “because we have to decarbonize our entire economies.”
