by jboullion | Mar 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Richard Mial in the La Crosse Tribune:
One hundred high-speed rail advocates, several riding Amtrak from Minnesota, gathered Thursday in La Crosse to promote having the proposed Chicago-to-Twin Cities passenger train follow the river route used by Amtrak.
Billed as a rail “summit,” the event at Train Station BBQ featured Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi and Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel as keynote speakers.
“I really feel that this route will come out on top,” said Winona, Minn., Mayor Jerry Miller, who heads the Minnesota High-Speed Rail Commission of officials from communities on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line.
“That route is the only shovel-ready route,” Miller told the group.
But the two state officials were noncommittal about which of three options might be chosen:
•Amtrak’s Empire Builder route through Tomah, La Crosse, Winona and Red Wing into St. Paul.
•Through Rochester to the Twin Cities. Rochester has never had a passenger rail connection to the Twin Cities.
•From Madison north to Eau Claire.
The two state transportation departments will recommend a choice to the Federal Rail Administration in late 2010 or early 2011, said Tom Faella, director of the La Crosse Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Wisconsin has received $8 million in federal stimulus to upgrade the Hiawatha route between Milwaukee and Chicago, and to begin planning an extension to the Twin Cities from Madison, which will have passenger rail service from Milwaukee.
by jboullion | Mar 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Richard Mial in the La Crosse Tribune:
One hundred high-speed rail advocates, several riding Amtrak from Minnesota, gathered Thursday in La Crosse to promote having the proposed Chicago-to-Twin Cities passenger train follow the river route used by Amtrak.
Billed as a rail “summit,” the event at Train Station BBQ featured Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi and Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel as keynote speakers.
“I really feel that this route will come out on top,” said Winona, Minn., Mayor Jerry Miller, who heads the Minnesota High-Speed Rail Commission of officials from communities on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line.
“That route is the only shovel-ready route,” Miller told the group.
But the two state officials were noncommittal about which of three options might be chosen:
•Amtrak’s Empire Builder route through Tomah, La Crosse, Winona and Red Wing into St. Paul.
•Through Rochester to the Twin Cities. Rochester has never had a passenger rail connection to the Twin Cities.
•From Madison north to Eau Claire.
The two state transportation departments will recommend a choice to the Federal Rail Administration in late 2010 or early 2011, said Tom Faella, director of the La Crosse Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Wisconsin has received $8 million in federal stimulus to upgrade the Hiawatha route between Milwaukee and Chicago, and to begin planning an extension to the Twin Cities from Madison, which will have passenger rail service from Milwaukee.
by jboullion | Mar 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a guest column in The Country Today by Rick Adamski, an organic dairy farmer near Seymour, Outagamie County:
As a dairy farmer, I understand that wise investments reduce operating costs. On our farm we have seen the need to save energy as a means to flourish in a changing economy.
The state needs to learn this lesson. We can create opportunities in rural Wisconsin to become net energy producers through some common-sense policies such as the advanced renewable portfolio standard, the low-carbon fuel standard and the Energy Crop Reserve Program, three policies being considered in the Clean Energy Jobs Act (Assembly Bill 649 and Senate Bill 450). All of these policies encourage adoption of more renewable energy sources and open up a market for Wisconsin farmers.
But I especially want to emphasize the importance of another common-sense policy being considered: advanced renewable tariffs.
Advanced renewable tariffs are essentially a statewide, uniform buyback rate for renewable energy that is fed into the grid. Locally owned, small-scale energy systems won’t happen without these tariffs. Individuals need to know how much they will be paid for their energy before they invest.
I was fortunate to have had a We Energies experimental small wind buyback rate, which allowed me to build a wind turbine on our farm. It is unfortunate that there are people across the state with better wind resources than ours but worse buyback rates that keep them from producing renewable energy and earning a return. We need this bill to allow entrepreneurs to have fair access, no matter what utility they have.
While it seems an advanced renewable tariff is just common sense, some interests are actively trying to defeat this policy. Perspective is a quality that seems to be absent in so many political debates today, and the debate around the Clean Energy Jobs Act is no exception. It sure seems to me like the critics of this bill have a different understanding of the past or a lack of memory of the past.
At the basis of their argument is their belief that fossil fuels are cheap and will always be cheap. Both of those beliefs are wrong. We forget we are subsidizing fossil fuels. In the case of coal, currently 10 percent of the gross production is exempt from taxation. That is hardly a market-driven force.
by jboullion | Mar 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
A letter to the editor of The Capital Times by Keith Spruce of Milwaukee:
Dear Editor: Some opposition to the Clean Energy & Jobs Act (SB 450 & AB 649) rests on allegations of increases in the cost of energy under the act. This opposition could not find more contradiction when compared with the recent energy cost study report by Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission.
The Feb. 19 PSC study concludes that in all likelihood Wisconsin will be spending more on electricity in the long run if we don’t act to embrace renewable portfolio standards and take more aggressive action on energy efficiency. Somehow the cited a Wisconsin Policy Research Institute/Beacon Hill Institute study used as a basis to argue increased energy costs by some of the opposition could not be more off-key from our own state’s PSC analysis.
Every year, $16 billion leaves Wisconsin to pay for fuel. The Clean Energy Jobs Act is designed to improve our economy, save money and create jobs.
Maybe it’s a good to time to find common ground as we enter the post-peak-oil era and leave behind cheap fossil fuel that threatens us even more than a warm bottle of beer from global warming could.
Keith Spruce
Milwaukee
by jboullion | Mar 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a guest column in The Country Today by Rick Adamski, an organic dairy farmer near Seymour:
As a dairy farmer, I understand that wise investments reduce operating costs. On our farm we have seen the need to save energy as a means to flourish in a changing economy.
The state needs to learn this lesson. We can create opportunities in rural Wisconsin to become net energy producers through some common-sense policies such as the advanced renewable portfolio standard, the low-carbon fuel standard and the Energy Crop Reserve Program, three policies being considered in the Clean Energy Jobs Act (Assembly Bill 649 and Senate Bill 450). All of these policies encourage adoption of more renewable energy sources and open up a market for Wisconsin farmers.
But I especially want to emphasize the importance of another common-sense policy being considered: advanced renewable tariffs.
Advanced renewable tariffs are essentially a statewide, uniform buyback rate for renewable energy that is fed into the grid. Locally owned, small-scale energy systems won’t happen without these tariffs. Individuals need to know how much they will be paid for their energy before they invest.
I was fortunate to have had a We Energies experimental small wind buyback rate, which allowed me to build a wind turbine on our farm. It is unfortunate that there are people across the state with better wind resources than ours but worse buyback rates that keep them from producing renewable energy and earning a return. We need this bill to allow entrepreneurs to have fair access, no matter what utility they have.
While it seems an advanced renewable tariff is just common sense, some interests are actively trying to defeat this policy. Perspective is a quality that seems to be absent in so many political debates today, and the debate around the Clean Energy Jobs Act is no exception. It sure seems to me like the critics of this bill have a different understanding of the past or a lack of memory of the past.
At the basis of their argument is their belief that fossil fuels are cheap and will always be cheap. Both of those beliefs are wrong. We forget we are subsidizing fossil fuels. In the case of coal, currently 10 percent of the gross production is exempt from taxation. That is hardly a market-driven force.
by jboullion | Mar 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Environmental Law & Policy Center:
A new report from the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) demonstrates how farmers and rural small businesses are making clean energy the newest cash crop. From a Pennsylvania syrup maker that cut its energy costs in half, to an Illinois dairy that generates electricity frommanure (using a Wisconsin company’s technology), to a Montana brewery that taps solar power, clean energy is improving the bottom line for rural America.
Farm Energy Success Stories highlights clean energy projects made possible with grants and loan guarantees from the Farm Bill’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The report cover highlights a Wisconsin solar project in Burlington, Wisconsin and another Wisconsin solar project in Oak Creek is highlighted as a Success Story. A previous report highlighted the manure digester at Five Star Dairy in Elk Mound.
Wisconsin has benefitted from this federal program due to our clean energy leadership, as other states struggle to compete. Wisconsin farmers and rural small businesses have received over $15 million (third highest) in funding under the program, with most awards being for manure digesters, helping to make Wisconsin the national leader for (planned) farm digester development.
However, even with REAP funding, many of these digesters have not yet been built because Wisconsin’s farmers often have trouble getting a fair deal from utilities for their clean “cow power.” The Clean Energy Jobs Act — as currently drafted prior to weakening amendments — would change that by providing fair Advanced Renewable Tariffs (a.k.a. “renewable energy buyback rates”) for farm energy projects statewide.
“With the help of farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses, America and Wisconsin can make great strides toward solving our energy problems.” said Andy Olsen, Senior Policy Advocate for ELPC. “A strong Clean Energy Jobs Act can also create rural economic development, energy independence and a cleaner environment one farm at a time.”
