Rich Dana, who posted this diary on energy policy here not long ago, had a great editorial on the front page of the opinion section of the Sunday Des Moines Register: Big utilities take wind out of locals’ future.

I hesitate to post any excerpt, because you really should go read the whole thing. But here is a particularly important passage:

Minnesota recently passed a “C-BED” law (Community-Based Economic Development) which levels the playing field for locally owned renewable-energy projects by establishing a tariff based on the utility industry’s own discount rates. For residential and small-business customers, Minnesota and a number of states across the nation offer rebate programs for individuals willing to invest in small-scale solar-power systems or home- and farm-scale wind turbines.

Meanwhile, at the Iowa Statehouse, the ever-present utility lobbyists exert an iron grip on legislators with a campaign of disinformation, making claims that they are working to protect ratepayers from increased energy bills, and that they can do a better job in a market environment free of government mandates.

As a believer in the power of the free market, I find this claim humorous – the day that I have a choice of which power company to buy from is the day we can have that discussion. Until then, utility companies remain state-sanctioned monopolies, with only as much concern for their customers as the government requires.

Despite the fact that several forward-looking Iowa rural electric co-ops and municipal utilities have proven that supporting their members and local residents who invest in renewable energy is good for local business, ratepayers and the environment, the REC lobby continues to be one of the most vehement opponents of local renewable-energy ownership. It argues that if it is required to buy locally produced renewable electricity, it would be too costly, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

MidAmerican Energy, one of the most powerful and influential forces at the Statehouse, has led the effort to shut out small business and local ownership through the company’s close ties to leadership.

Like I said, go read the whole thing. Our Democratic-controlled legislature should be able to do better on energy policy.

Believe it or not, the Iowa House of Representatives is in the process of passing a bill to
“…allow the state's Office of Energy Independence to add nuclear energy to the mix of alternative and renewable energy sources that could apply for millions of dollars in state grant money.” (Todays DM Register – http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS10/802280389/1001/NEWS ).

A crazy plan by a few crackpot tools of the utilities, you say? No – in fact House File 2305  is co-sponsored by 57 representatives, including a bunch of democrats (who should be ashamed of themselves!).  Sponsors include:
 
PAULSEN, STRUYK, KAUFMANN, BAUDLER,DEYOE, RAYHONS, SODERBERG, UPMEYER,HEATON, TJEPKES, TYMESON, FORRISTALL, L. MILLER, GREINER, HOFFMAN, CHAMBERS, ALONS, WORTHAN, MAY, DE BOEF, SANDS, WATTS, LUKAN, DOLECHECK, RANTS, ROBERTS, D. TAYLOR, JACOBS, VAN FOSSEN, BOAL, VAN ENGELENHOVEN, PETTENGILL, TOMENGA, QUIRK, T. TAYLOR, DANDEKAR, KELLEY, SHOMSHOR, BUKTA, BAILEY, ZIRKELBACH, JACOBY, GIPP, RAECKER, DRAKE, FOEGE, HUSEMAN, R. OLSON, CLUTE, ANDERSON, WISE, GRASSLEY, RASMUSSEN, HUSER, SCHICKEL, WINDSCHITL, and BERRY.

If these folks are your reps, please call them up and ask them what the hell they are thinking…. I think we can all agree that Uranium is not a renewable resource, and as far as alternative – after 50 years and 60-80 billion dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies, I don't think it really qualifies as alternative, either.  In fact, it is the most expensive segment of the power industry, and has been from the start.

Please go to http://www.legis.state.ia.us and find the contact info for these people, and ask them to please extract their heads from their hindquarters before they embarrass our entire state.

Rich Dana
rich@gotoplanb.net

I saw on the I-Renew e-mail list that the Iowa Environmental Council has put out an action alert urging citizens to contact senators in support of SF 2083. It’s an important bill that would improve energy efficiency in this state.

The full text of the action alert, along with suggested wording for your communication with legislators, is after the jump. Of course it’s better to put things in your own words if you can.

As I’ve written, the so-called “economic stimulus” bill is a charade that won’t really help the economy.

However, I give full credit to Chuck Grassley for working hard to get good provisions on renewable energy incentives and green jobs into the version that passed the Senate Finance Committee today. A Sierra Club press release notes:

The $5.5 billion package includes short-term extensions of key renewable energy tax incentives due to expire at the end of 2008–including the Production Tax Credit (PTC), Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar, clean energy bonds, and other measures designed to promote energy efficiency.

I’m putting the full text of the Sierra Club’s statement after the jump. It includes examples of how “green jobs” have improved local economies.

Grassley has disappointed environmentalists many times, but today he came through and significantly improved the bill that’s going to the Senate floor.

Tom Vilsack wrote an op-ed in the Des Moines Register on Sunday about global warming. For him, the answer is conserve energy, invest in biofuels and renewable energy, and develop better technology for coal-fired and nuclear power plants.

Everyone interested in a comprehensive solution to global warming should read the report Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change.

How we design our communities can dramatically increase or decrease our country’s carbon footprint. If we don’t consider these factors, sprawling development could wipe out any reduction in greenhouse gases we get from energy-efficiency and cleaner energy sources.

I highly recommend this report to Vilsack and other smart people who like to delve into policy details.

The Iowa Environmental Council’s Lobby Day is Thursday, January 24, in the State Capitol Building rotunda, from 9 am to 3 pm.

If you’ve got time to drop by during those hours, I encourage you to do so. Advocates for many good environmental causes will be educating legislators and the media about their issues.

These organizations will be represented at the lobby day, and their staff or volunteers would be happy to meet citizens who want to get involved:

1000 Friends of Iowa

American Institute of Architects, Iowa Chapter

Center for Energy and Environmental Education (CEEE)

Center on Sustainable Communities

Environment Iowa

Environmental Advocates

Iowa River Greenbelt Resource Trust

Iowa Environmental Council

Iowa Farmers Union

Iowa Global Warming

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

Iowa Policy Project

Iowa Recycling Association

Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-RENEW)

Iowa Rivers Revival

Iowa Whitewater Coalition

Izaak Walton League

Raccoon River Watershed Association

Trees Forever

Friday was the last day of public testimony before the Iowa Utilities Board on the proposed new coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown. The Sierra Club put out a release noting that while Iowa debates building more coal plants, other states in the region are overtaking us in wind power capacity.

Key excerpt:

“The difference is clearly policy,” said Mark Kresowik with the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign in Iowa.  “Illinois and Minnesota have passed policies that look to the future, such as Renewable Electric Standards, carbon dioxide reduction targets, and even a moratorium on new coal plants.  Iowa’s energy policy remains in the 20th century.”

Time for the Democratic-controlled legislature to do more on this front for Iowa. I’ve put the full text of the press release after the jump. It’s worth a read.

Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley is being strongly urged by his top energy advisor to take aggressive steps to cut energy consumption, and the state should create a multimillion-dollar fund to give homeowners an array of incentives to use less power.

The blueprint, to be released by the Maryland Energy Administration, will offer 20 proposals to help O'Malley (D) deliver on his ambitious pledge to reduce the state's energy consumption by 15 percent in seven years and stave off rolling blackouts that experts predict could occur in three years.

The report recommends that the state encourage the fledgling solar and wind energy industries to invest in the region and help Maryland more than double its use of renewable power.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver has been a proponent of renewable energy, creating the Iowa Power Fund, the Iowa Office of Energy Independence, and saying he wants Iowa to become the renewable energy capital of the world.

Culver has made a goal for Iowa to produce enough wind energy by 2015 to power 500,000 homes and cut carbon emissions by more than 7 billion tons per year. It seems that a program like the one in Maryland would help Culver and Iowans reach this goal.

Instead there are plans to build coal-fired power plants in Marshalltown and Waterloo that would emit more carbon into the air.

If Culver was serious about making Iowa into the renewable energy capital, one would think he would be stressing cutting energy use.

Good for him. Got this today from the Iowa Environmental Council:

 

 

IOWA ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS HAIL HISTORIC AGREEMENT ON GLOBAL WARMING REDUCTION
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver exercised bold leadership to reduce the critical threat of global warming and promote economic development when he signed a historic multi-state agreement Thursday to significantly reduce carbon emissions, Iowa environmental leaders said.

 

Culver joined leaders of five other Midwestern states and the Premier of Manitoba, Canada in a pact to cut carbon pollution 60 to 80 percent, as recommended by scientists.  The agreement, signed at a meeting of the Midwest Governors Association, will spur investment in clean, renewable energy and energy efficient technology – fueling the growth of local industries in Iowa.

 

“Our governors today will propel Iowa and the Midwest to a clean energy economy. Boosting our use of wind, solar, and biomass will create thousands of new jobs,” said Nathaniel Baer, energy director at the Iowa Environmental Council.

 

Already wind turbine manufacturers have brought nearly 1,000 new jobs and over $100 million in capital investments to Iowa. Studies by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Law & Policy Center show that thousands of additional jobs and investments are in store from the kind of clean energy policies recommended in this platform.

 

The multi-state accord finalized Thursday should also yield major reductions in Iowa’s total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, which rank in the top half of the nation, according figures obtained from the website of the Energy Information Administration in the U.S. Department of Energy.

“With the stroke of Governor Culver’s pen, Iowa has reversed its legacy as a major source of global warming pollution and emerged as part of the solution to the problem.   We thank him for his leadership in securing our energy future,” said Marian Riggs Gelb, executive director for the Iowa Environmental Council.

The Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club sent out an e-mail later in the day, hailing the accord while urging citizens to call Culver's office at 515-281-5211

to thank him for his support of this accord and ask him to prevent the construction of two new dirty coal burning power plants in Waterloo and Marshalltown. If built those two plants would eliminate all of the good work that Governor Culver is trying to accomplish by emitting as much carbon dioxide every year as the entire passenger vehicle fleet of the State of Iowa, more than 1.6 million cars.

I'll make that call today. 

UPDATE: The Union of Concerned Scientists has declared an “urgent action” to thank Culver for this while asking him to block the proposed coal-fired power plans. I've posted an e-mail from that group after the jump.

Saw this on the I-Renew list–looks interesting.

Tour a renewable powered- energy efficient home in Iowa City!

Electrical Engineer Don Laughlin built his dream energy efficient
home, using used thermal solar panels and his engineering know-how to
cut costs. Don will lead a tour of the home after a short presentation
by Rich Dana from Union of Concerned Scientists on global warming's
effect in Iowa.

When: This coming Saturday, November 17, 2007, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Where: 827 Church St. (Corner of Church and Governor)

Cost: $5 I-Renew Member, $8 Non-Member

For more information and/or a registration form, contact I-Renew by
calling (319) 643-3160 or by emailing irenew@irenew. org. We hope to
see you there!