By Ryan Cardarella
WisBusiness.com
Governors who signed a pact on Thursday to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses touted the accord as an example for other regions of the country and one that would establish the Midwest as a leader in the fight against global warming.
“We are proud of the leadership this group is providing,” Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said.
The accord, signed Thursday at the Midwestern Governor’s Energy Summit at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, proposes greatly reducing emissions in the Midwest by emphasizing conservation, greater energy efficiency and development of alternative fuels.
The plan seeks to lower electricity demand in the region 2 percent by 2015 and 2 percent annually thereafter. It also requires all coal-burning power plants to capture and store dangerous carbon dioxide underground by 2020 and put E85 ethanol gasoline in a third of gas stations by 2025. Another element of the accord is the proposed cap and trade system involving emissions credits that will be instituted by the region in the next twelve months.
While the governors committed to the goals, it is not a piece of legislation. The accord is intended to put pressure on legislators to approve changes to comply with targets.
The hope is that the Midwest can lead the way in developing alternative fuels and capitalize on the economic advantages that would offer.
“We hope to become the Silicon Valley of renewable energy,” said Iowa Gov. Chet Culver.
In addition to Doyle and Culver, the governors of Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota signed the accord, as did the premier of Manitoba. The governors of South Dakota, Indiana and Ohio signed on as observers.
South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds said his state will monitor how the other states deal with the goals.
With the region providing vast potential for hydroelectric, wind and solar power, the Midwest appears to be in great position to capitalize on further development, the governors said.
Members of the summit also stressed the need to be proactive in dealing with energy issues, and that the idea isn’t to stop doing things, but rather to change how things are done.
“The green world goes around telling people not to do things. Really, we just need to do things differently,” said Phil Woolas, minister of state for the Environment in the United Kingdom.
Woolas opened the event with a speech relating progress in England and its environmental efforts, as well as what the two countries can learn from one another.
Conservation was also an emphasis during the forum, as it is key to any progress made in the fight against global warming, said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
“The cleanest and cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use,” Pawlenty said. “We can’t undersell the importance of conservation.”
However, not everyone was pleased with the proceedings. A group of around 25, mostly University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students, gathered outside of the Pfister Wednesday night to protest the continued use of coal as a source of energy.
Protesters favored wind and solar energy sources, arguing they’re less harmful, and were skeptical of the ability to store coal emissions underground.
“We are looking for an eventual moratorium on coal usage. We need to make the ones we already have more efficient, but we shouldn’t be building any new ones,” said organizer Katie Walter.
Governors highlighted the need to clean up coal plants, but do not appear to have plans to devalue them as a viable energy source.
“We are working on sequestering the carbon and the physical infrastructure to deal with it, but we can’t turn around and just shut down coal plants,” said South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds.
