Portland’s Green Empowerment is proving that renewable energies are not only for the privileged in the developed world. Mirroring many of the same values that have propelled Portland to be the most livable city in the US and a center for cleantech, Green Empowerment quietly goes about their work in developing countries empowering local communities to control their own energy sources, preserve the environment and ultimately alleviate poverty. Their core values of Social Justice, Local Leadership, and Sustainability guide their work as their own triple bottom line.
Green Empowerment was founded in 1997 by a Portland-based human rights attorney who was inspired by the life of Ben Linder, a neighbor and friend who was killed in Nicaragua. Green Empowerment’s first project was to work with Ben’s colleagues to complete a micro-hydro renewable energy system to provide clean electricity to a village in northern Nicaragua.
Fundamentally, Green Empowerment emphasizes local leadership, community participation, and long-term economic and environmental sustainability. They develop lasting partnerships with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in emerging countries to build sustainable capacity for renewable energy and water systems. These projects produce electricity for residential and community use to promote local economic development, micro-enterprises, and deliver potable water. In their partnerships, they assist with feasibility studies, technical training, project construction, commissioning, organizational planning, publicity and fund-raising. Green Empowerment relies on their local NGO partners and communities to determine their own priorities and goals.
An important goal and outgrowth of the mission of Green Empowerment is to conduct outreach, education, and training in the United States to promote understanding of the global indivisibility of environmentalism, social justice, and sustainability. They have learned that fundamental social and environmental problems cannot be solved without a global perspective.
Green Empowerment has been instrumental in successfully establishing community-owned micro-hydroelectric projects in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. These endeavors have brought electricity to thousands of people and boosted the local economies. In addition, Green Empowerment has provided solar power for 37 health clinics in Burma, developed solar projects with three indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and eight villages in Northern Peru. They have supported small wind projects in Northern Peru and water pump projects in Nicaragua and the Philippines. To date, through renewable energy, they have helped 23,500 heads of household gain lighting in their homes, secured local access to clean water for 11,000 people, and improved schools, clinics and small-businesses for an additional 177,500 villagers. All told Green Empowerment has helped improve the lives of over 385,000 people.
It’s interesting to note that as Portland gains notoriety for progressive green and social policies at home in the US, Green Empowerment is quietly putting those policies to work in rural villages in the developing world. Take a moment and learn more at greenempowerment.org.
