by jboullion | Jan 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development:
State Labor Secretary says UW-Platteville on track with new clean energy degree
PLATTEVILLE – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman said today Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Act will create 15,000 jobs by 2025, including career opportunities for graduates of a new clean energy degree program at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
“Governor Doyle’s comprehensive clean energy package will create thousands of good, family-supporting jobs, grow our economy and help Wisconsin gain its energy independence,” Secretary Gassman said. “His plan will mean career opportunities for our workers of tomorrow, including UW-Platteville students pursuing the new bachelor’s degree in renewable energy.”
Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Act implements recommendations of his Global Warming Task Force to address climate change and grow the state’s green economy. The comprehensive package would:
Require use of renewable energy sources for 20 percent of Wisconsin’s needs by 2020and 25 percent by 2025. This will ensure more energy dollars remain in the state. Wisconsin currently spends $16 billion per year on imported energy to heat homes and fuel cars and trucks.
Increase energy efficiency and energy conservation efforts with graduated statewide electricity savings goals, leading to a 2 percent reduction in energy use by 2015 and annual reductions thereafter.
Create jobs, more than 1,800 in the first year, many of them construction jobs, according to new industry-recognized research. Economists and policy analysts estimate the package will create 800 to 1,800 new construction jobs per year through 2025 and more than 2,000 manufacturing jobs once the energy act provisions are fully implemented.
Secretary Gassman addressed students and faculty in the new on the first day of the spring semester. She applauded the university’s decision to offer a four-year degree in renewable and sustainable energy. The decision was prompted by the popularity of a minor degree in renewable energy that the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science offered to students in all fields of study.
by jboullion | Jan 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Clean Energy Jobs Act will require trade-offs, but we’re confident that the cost of the measure will be far less than if we stand pat.
A bill just introduced in the state Legislature holds the promise of growing new technologies, new jobs and energy independence in Wisconsin. Its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing conservation efforts and renewable and alternative sources of energy are good public policy. They deserve widespread support in the Legislature and from citizens.
The bill comes with costs, and the Legislature should do what it can to mitigate those costs to businesses and families, especially the neediest. But doing nothing in the face of the climate change that science says is already taking place will be even more costly. And even if the worst projections of climate change don’t come to fruition, and even if the federal government doesn’t act on a bill of its own, it’s still important to reduce Wisconsin’s reliance on fossil fuels and increase our use of renewable energy. Public health and the environment demand no less.
Just as important in the wake of the Great Recession, the Clean Energy Jobs Act, based on the recommendations of the governor’s Global Warming Task Force, also brings opportunity. Gov. Jim Doyle asserts the bill will create more than 15,000 jobs. Maybe that’s an overestimation; maybe not. But it’s clear that jobs will be created and that the bill could put the state in position to take advantage of a new wave in the so-called green economy. Getting ahead of other states would benefit businesses as well as the families who need jobs.
The act provides a launching pad for a number of efforts that could move Wisconsin forward. It is not without flaws – and those flaws need to be addressed by legislators – but if done right, this bill deserves to be enacted this year.
A key element of the bill is a requirement that Wisconsin generate 25% of its power from renewable sources such as wind turbines, biomass plants and solar panels by 2025, up from 5% in 2008.
by jboullion | Jan 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
State Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen and Public Service Commission Chair Eric Callisto will be in La Crosse on Tuesday, Jan. 19 to tour local clean energy projects and hold a press conference at Honda Motorwerks to discuss how the Clean Energy Jobs Act will improve Wisconsin’s economy by promoting renewable fuels, conservation and innovation. Sec. Nilsestuen and Commissioner Eric Callisto will be joined by PSC Commissioner Mark Meyer.
Gundersen Lutheran (GL) Clinic Entrance
9:30 – 10:00 AM: Presentation “Energizing Healthcare at Gundersen Lutheran”
10:00 – 10:30 AM: Walking GL Tour and site visit to City Brewery to see the digester that produces electricity for GL.
10:30 – 11:00 AM: Wrap up Discussion and drive to Honda Motorwerks
11:00 – 11:30 AM: Photo Op and Press Conference – Honda Motowerks
11:30 AM: Return to GL
by jboullion | Jan 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
A letter to the editor by Kristina Steger in the La Crosse Tribune:
Do you make an effort each day to keep your carbon dioxide emissions down? Chances are that is the last thing you are worrying about amidst your family, career, school and friends.
Well, climate change is real. It threatens serious and even catastrophic disruption of our community and the natural environment itself. Earth is getting warmer at an extremely quick rate. Most of it is caused by a buildup of greenhouse gas emissions, which trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, just like a greenhouse.
It may seem hard to “worry” about this when western Wisconsin hasn’t seen the drastic effects of climate change yet. The key word, however, is “yet.” The temperature in the permafrost in Iceland has been rising at a rapid rate for the past 25 years. Storm surges are already occurring in various parts of Alaska. Glaciers at Glacier National Park are expected to vanish by 2030. The disintegration of the entire Greenland ice sheet could be set in motion in a matter of decades. Once an ice sheet begins to melt, it starts to flow faster, making it thin out faster, which encourages further melting.
If our CO2 emissions aren’t controlled, this process could begin occurring in a matter of decades. When this process starts, it will be virtually impossible to stop and will cause a global disaster.
All of us need to have a greater sense of urgency to making commitments to reducing CO2 emissions and thus helping to slow (or prevent) climate change.
by jboullion | Jan 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a post by Steve Jagler on Milwaukee Biz Blog:
The controversy over Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act illustrates a deep philosophical divide that is emerging within Wisconsin’s business community.
In some ways, the emerging chasm pits the politics of tomorrow against the politics of yesterday.
On one side of the divide – in favor of the green jobs plan – stand the coalition for Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE) and the Wisconsin Business Council.
The CREWE includes venerable companies such as CleanPower, Alliant Energy, EcoEnergy, Johnson Controls Inc., Xcel Energy, C5•6 Technologies, Axley Brynelson, Madison Gas and Electric, Orion Energy Systems, Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin Energy Corp., Poblocki Sign Company, Emerging Energies of Wisconsin, MillerCoors, American Transmission Co., WPPI Energy, DTE Energy Services and Kranz, Inc. . . .
The plan also has the support of the Wisconsin Business Council, which includes leaders from several of the state’s key businesses, including American Transmission Co., Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, AT&T Wisconsin, Commerce State Bank, Dean Health System, Midwest Natural Gas, MillerCoors, Mortenson Construction, Orion Energy Systems and Park Bank (in Madison). . . .
On the other side of the divide stands the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), which is joined by 22 other business organizations, including the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), in opposition to Doyle’s proposal.
The WMC cited a study by the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute that contends the proposed green legislation would kill 43,093 private-sector jobs in Wisconsin. . . .
Adding even more intrigue to this philosophical divide among Wisconsin’s business community is the fact that many members of the CREWE and the Wisconsin Business Council in favor of the green jobs plan also are dues-paying members of the WMC, the MMAC and the other organizations that are against the plan.
“It’s really created massive fault lines within the business community between the deniers (of global warming) and those that think something must be done,” said Thad Nation of the CREWE. “It’s probably going to get messier before it gets better.”
