by jboullion | Jan 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Governor Jim Doyle:
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today was joined by business leaders, labor, legislators and environmental organizations as he launched the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a landmark legislative package to accelerate the state’s green economy and create jobs. New industry-recognized research shows the package will directly create at least 15,000 green jobs in Wisconsin by 2025.
“Addressing climate change is not just an environmental issue, it’s about creating green jobs,” Governor Doyle said.
“The Clean Energy Jobs Act offers new standards to help accelerate Wisconsin’s green economy. I am calling on the Legislature to update renewable portfolio standards to generate 25 percent of our fuel from renewable sources by 2025 and set a realistic goal of a 2 percent annual reduction in energy consumption by 2015.”
The Clean Energy Jobs Act, State Senate Bill 450 and State Assembly Bill 649, implements the recommendations of Governor Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force to address climate change and grow the state’s green economy through several key measures:
• Enhanced renewable portfolio standards – A new 20 percent standard would be set for 2020 and a 25 percent standard would be set for 2025. The current 10 percent standard would be accelerated from 2015 to 2013. By advancing our current renewable portfolio standards, and setting new standards, we will ensure more of our energy dollars stay in the state, creating thousands of jobs for Wisconsin families in fields like construction, manufacturing, and agriculture.
• Enhanced energy efficiency and conservation efforts – Graduated statewide electricity savings goals would be set, leading up to a 2 percent reduction by 2015 and annual reductions thereafter. The cheapest way to lower carbon emissions is through energy conservation. By setting achievable conservation goals, this bill will help reduce energy costs in businesses and homes across the state.
A comprehensive economic assessment of the Clean Energy Jobs Act found that the package would directly create at least 15,000 green jobs in Wisconsin by 2025. More than 1,800 jobs would be created in the first year alone. The assessment also found that between 800 and 1,800 construction jobs would be created each year from 2011-2025, and more than 2,000 manufacturing jobs would be created once the laws are fully implemented.
Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin’s executive director said:
Wisconsin’s existing 10% Renewable Energy Standard has driven significant investment in rural, forestry and agriculture markets by encouraging the construction of large wind, biogas, biomass and solar projects. Increasing the Renewable Energy Standard to 25% in 2025 would continue to generate more of the lucrative payments to landowners and biofuel / biomass providers as well as create more jobs constructing and maintaining the additional projects are built to meet the new standards.
The bills also include three of the proposals backed by the Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign:
• Renewable Energy Buyback Rates, also called an Advanced Renewable Tariffs, would set utility payments for small renewable energy producers who want to “feed energy” into the electric grid, enabling farmers and rural businesses to help Wisconsin become more energy independent with biopower, wind and solar.
• The Biomass Crop Reserve Program would award contracts to farmers to plant native perennial plants, which the farmer can then sell for bioenergy production, helping to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of jumpstarting the homegrown fuels market.
• A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard would be a market-based approach to promoting the cleanest, low-carbon fuels for Wisconsin, and would put Wisconsin in a position to capture the rapidly-developing clean energy market by using Wisconsin’s abundant natural resources like switchgrass.
Statements of support for the legislation came from Customers First!, WPPI Energy, CREWE, Clean Wisconsin, ACRE, MEUW, Sierra Club, and others.
by jboullion | Jan 7, 2010 | Uncategorized
From the introduction to a report issued by Wisconsin Environment:
Madison – As the state of Wisconsin begins to consider the Clean Energy Jobs Act, legislation aimed at reducing the state’s dependence on fossil fuels and creating new jobs in the clean energy economy, Wisconsin Environment Research & Policy Center released a new report today debunking recent claims made by special interest groups attacking the initiative.
In the last month, opponents of the initiative have relied on a November 2009 paper by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute [WPRI], “The Economics of Climate Change Proposals in Wisconsin,” to suggest that transitioning the state to a clean energy economy would result in massive economic disruption. Wisconsin Environment RPC has provided a new, detailed analysis of the flawed methodology used in the WPRI report.
“Wisconsin decision-makers need well-thought-out analyses of economic and environmental challenges –- including from those who, like WPRI, bring a libertarian perspective to the debate -– if the state is going to address those challenges in the most effective way,” said Dan Kohler, Director of Wisconsin Environment. “Unfortunately, WPRI’s analysis does not meet even the most basic standard of accuracy, and, as such, makes no useful contribution whatsoever to the ongoing policy debate.”
Wisconsin Environment RPC, in its new report “Flawed from the Start: How the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Gets the Economics of Energy Policy Wrong”, found that the WPRI report fails to acknowledge the many obvious economic and other benefits that would result from a broad effort to repower Wisconsin with clean energy. Among the long list of benefits (apparently) not considered in the analysis are the following:
• Avoided costs of electricity generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure resulting from reduced energy demand or the incorporation of on-site renewable generation.
• Increased income for Wisconsin farmers resulting from increased use of biofuels and the potential to lease lands for wind turbines and other forms of renewable energy development.
• Health benefits (including reductions in absenteeism, early mortality and possibly health care costs) from avoided fossil fuel-related pollution, including reductions in pollutants that form smog and soot, and mercury deposition in waterways.
• Avoided economic impacts of global warming in Wisconsin, including predicted changes that threaten to reduce the productivity of agriculture, increase the possibility of dangerous floods, shift the composition of Wisconsin forests, affect the winter recreation industry, and more.
• Reductions in the risk to individuals, businesses and government posed by sudden shifts in fossil fuel prices. Energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy both have hedging value as insurance against sudden spikes in fossil fuel costs.
Previously, the coalition for Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE) and RENEW Wisconsin issued similar critiques of the WPRI report.
by jboullion | Jan 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Alliant Energy:
January 6, 2010 – While the symptoms of headache, nausea and fatigue are usually associated with the flu, they’re also a warning sign of another serious health problem — carbon monoxide poisoning. Alliant Energy encourages customers to recognize the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning and to take safety precautions this heating season.
“Since symptoms mimic those of the flu, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning often don’t realize the cause of their illness,” said Larry Jensema, a service specialist for Alliant Energy. “Headache, nausea or vomiting, dizziness or disorientation, fatigue, muscle weakness and difficulty waking are all early indicators of possible carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Winter is the prime season for carbon monoxide problems because your home is sealed up tight and your furnace is running to keep your home warm. Carbon monoxide is an invisible, tasteless, odorless gas that occurs when fuel-burning appliances aren’t working properly. When people breathe in carbon monoxide, it enters the bloodstream and interferes with the absorption of oxygen by the blood cells.
If exposure continues over a long period, carbon monoxide poisoning can lead to brain damage or even death. If the symptoms are not accompanied by fever, if everyone in the family is ill, or if the symptoms disappear when you leave the house, it could be carbon monoxide poisoning.
“If you suspect carbon monoxide is in your home, get everyone out of the house and call a service professional to inspect your appliances right away. If you or anyone living in your home is seriously ill, call 911,” added Jensema.
by jboullion | Jan 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nick Paulson in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
For some time, Tom Klismith has followed the federal incentives to install renewable energy systems at his certified public accounting firm.
He liked the idea of installing solar panels at Klismith Accounting, but as a numbers man, the incentives — which cover 30 percent of the installation costs — just didn’t add up.
“When you did the tax return, the alternative minimum tax was negating the impact” of the federal incentives, Klismith said.
But when that tax law was changed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Klismith pounced. He had 112 solar panels installed at Klismith Accounting. In the two months since he installed the panels, Klismith has saved $425, but he expects that number to rise as the days grow longer and there is more sun. During the course of the year, he expects to save at least $6,000.
At that rate, the system should pay for itself in less than 10 years. That means big savings for the company because the equipment will last 20 to 25 years.
by jboullion | Dec 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Stevens Point Journal:
WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Papermaker NewPage continues to study the feasibility of building a small-scale biorefinery in Wisconsin Rapids.
Despite previous projections they would finish the study by the end of 2009, NewPage Corp. still is examining whether the project should move forward, spokeswoman Shannon Semmerling said.
“Feasibility studies take time to conduct,” she said. Semmerling did not comment further on the project, saying there was no new information to share.
In January 2008, the Miamisburg, Ohio-based company garnered a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a small-scale biorefinery in Wisconsin Rapids. Stora Enso North America originally submitted the request for federal money, which NewPage inherited when it bought the former Wisconsin Rapids-based company in December 2007 for $2.6 billion.
Since then, company leaders have been studying the project’s feasibility; once that is complete, the company has said it will work with the Energy Department to determine how to proceed.
The proposed refinery would produce 370 barrels of renewable diesel fuel a day — about 5.5 million gallons a year — from mill residue and wood chips. To get the grant, the project must be completed by 2012, according to the Energy Department.
