by jboullion | Apr 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
Shortly following the end of the legislative session, RENEW Wisconsin wrote to Governor Jim Doyle asking him to veto Senate Bill 273, which would allow “plasma gasification” of municipal wastes to generate electricity. RENEW sought the veto because the bill would allow the electricity to be called renewable and count toward the renewable energy requirements placed on Wisconsin utilities.
Now several other organizations, including RENEW, fleshed out the orginal veto request with a second letter:
We, the undersigned businesses and organizations, urge you to veto SB 273, which would undermine Wisconsin’s current renewable energy standards under Act 141. Signing this bill will result in less renewable solar, wind and biomass energy for Wisconsin at a time when our economy and our environment desperately need more, not less, of these technologies to decrease our dependence on dirty fossil fuels.
New development companies across the country are attempting to define gasification facilities as “green” renewable energy. Yet this technology, a glorified form of incineration that is burdened with many of the same cost and environmental drawbacks, has never been successfully deployed anywhere in this country. Developers are seeking tax incentives, grants and renewable energy credits at the expense of recycling and true renewable energy programs.
Please end your tenure as Governor by vetoing the bill that will undermine Wisconsin’s efforts to become a leader on genuine renewable energy. The benefits of doing so will be recognized for years to come.
The letter came from the Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter * Waukesha Environmental Action League * Midwest Environmental Advocates * Advocates for Renewable Energy * Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters * Clean Wisconsin * Wisconsin Environment * Citizens Utility Board * RENEW WI * Physicians for Social Responsibility * Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.
Click here for a description of SB 273, as amended.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
The turbine will serve the Green Leaf Inn in Walworth County.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times (Racine):
Let us count the ways in which this Legislature has failed in its duty. We do not speak of any particular issue or any particular position which the Legislature took, because the truth is that it took few.
There were some good results from this session, such as the law which formalized a transportation authority to make progress on KRM commuter rail. But there is much that didn’t move — bills on regional transit, election reforms, and energy and jobs. We do not advocate for every clause of every one of those bills. We decry the lack of action. It is true that one function of a legislature is to let bad ideas expire quietly, but the overarching issues of transit and jobs and energy must not fail. They must be dealt with in some manner.
The Democratic leadership bears a large portion of the blame, for many major bills did not come to the floor until the closing days of the session, leaving members little time to digest, discuss and amend. But Republicans must also be held responsible for an amazing rigidity and intransigence that produced few constructive suggestions or compromises.
Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor, labeled the Legislature’s inaction an example of what is wrong with modern lawmaking. That presumes the goal is to make laws or decisions.
by jboullion | Apr 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
State programs receive $20 million to help owners retrofit homes, businesses
Milwaukee, Racine and Madison will launch or expand programs to help homeowners and businesses retrofit buildings to cut energy use. The programs are part of a $20 million initiative funded by the federal stimulus package.
The three cities were partners in a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to Madison-based Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp. and announced by Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The money will be used to set up or expand programs that lower the cost of making energy-saving changes in homes and businesses.
The Wisconsin project was one of 25 nationwide that won more than $450 million in total funding. The Energy Department received applications for more than $3.5 billion.
The state had sought $65 million through the federal “retrofit ramp-up” program. The goal: bring down the cost of energy-saving home improvements such as air sealing, insulation and other initiatives offered by the state Focus on Energy program.
Milwaukee recently launched a solar-financing program, and Racine has started an energy-efficiency retrofit program that will expand with the new funding.
“This initiative will help overcome the barriers to making energy efficiency easy and accessible to all – inconvenience, lack of information and lack of financing,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “Block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will make our communities more energy efficient and help families save money. At the same time, we’ll create thousands of jobs and strengthen our economy.”
by jboullion | Apr 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
RENEW Wisconsin Calls for Veto of Waste-to-Energy Bill
RENEW Wisconsin called on Governor Jim Doyle to veto a bill that allows garbage to qualify as a renewable energy resource.
“The bill (Senate Bill 273), passed in the last hours of the final legislative session, would lead to a cutback in new clean-energy installations using solar, wind, biogas, and biomass,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide renewable energy advocacy organization.
The bill would credit electricity from gasification of garbage toward the amount of renewable energy each Wisconsin utility must supply under current law.
“By failing to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act, the Legislature essentially froze the overall percentage of renewable energy that Wisconsin utilities must supply to customers,” said Vickerman.
“Adding solid waste to the list of eligible resources without raising the percentage above the current requirement will result in a reduction of electricity derived from truly sustainable renewable resources.”
“No way can anyone legitimately say that this bill expands renewable energy in Wisconsin.”
“All in all, this session will be remembered as a wasted opportunity for clean energy and job creation,” Vickerman said.
“When we entered the month of April, we had high hopes for the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a bill that would have forcefully sent Wisconsin down a path to energy independence while creating thousands of new jobs. Instead, the Legislature crammed garbage down the throats of utility customers.”
“No other legislative body in history has managed to trash Earth Day and the legacy of Wisconsin’s own Gaylord Nelson as completely as the Wisconsin Senate whose leaders wouldn’t allow a vote on the Clean Energy Jobs Act,” according to Vickerman.
“Governor Doyle can honor Gaylord Nelson by vetoing SB 273.”
END
