While clean energy activists in many other parts of the country are working to protect current renewable energy policies, Minnesota today has a new law that will spur growth in the state’s solar sector and will create good jobs for workers. Governor Mark Dayton signed into law a solar energy standard of 1.5 percent by 2020 for investor-owned utilities, with a goal of 10 percent solar energy by 2030. The standard was part of a larger omnibus energy bill that passed the Minnesota State House and Senate last week. 

In states like North Carolina, Ohio, and Kansas, there have been legislative attempts to reduce or eliminate their clean energy policies driving growth. The best defense against them has been that, in each of those states, those policies have created good jobs for workers.  These attempts have been clearly driven by groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council — a group funded by billionaires looking out for their own profits at the expense of clean air and good wages and benefits for workers. 

Thankfully, most of these attacks have been fended off for the moment. But, ALEC and their ilk have succeeded in their goal of preventing further progress on clean energy by putting activists and clean energy supporters on the defensive. Instead of focusing on where to go next, many state legislatures are instead deliberating going backwards. 

That’s why it’s such good news to see what Minnesota has been able to do. Leaders in the legislature and Governor Mark Dayton have moved the ball forward on solar energy in the state. It is a first step toward more bold measures — like making the Minnesota Renewable Electricity Standard stronger and reducing red tape standing in the way of getting clean energy projects off the ground. 

We can have a cleaner energy future if we keep working to push our local, state and federal government to be bold. California, Minnesota, Vermont and many other states have been leading the way. Now, it’s time for the federal government to act to ensure we reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change, creates good jobs for workers in every part of the country, and leaves a strong environment and a prosperous economy for future generations of Americans to build upon.

Last week, the Minnesota State Energy Sector Partnership held an event at the State Capitol in St. Paul to highlight the success of the grantees of their three-year, $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The partnership was funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The BlueGreen Alliance Foundation’s Anoka Green and Minnesota Green programs were among the grantees that received funding from the grant and their successes were highlighted during the daylong event. 

Jerome Balsimo, Training Manager for the GreenPOWER program, was on hand at the event to share the successes of both the programs. “We’ve had great success helping people find jobs and giving them job skills they can use to make the companies they work for more efficient and green,” said Balsimo. “Eighty-five percent of the unemployed participants in the Anoka Green program were placed in jobs and 76 percent of the participants in the Minnesota Green program have gotten jobs so far.” 

Anoka Green combines the GreenPOWER training — a series of workshops designed to help workers find energy and water efficiency and reduce waste, saving money for companies — with a Precision Sheet Metal training course at the Anoka County Technical College. Minnesota Green combined GreenPOWER with additional training in medical device manufacturing or customized welding training. Over 53 percent of the participants in Minnesota Green found employment in the medical device field, with the remainder finding jobs in the welding industry. 

Pairing green skills that reduce waste and increase profits for companies with manufacturing skills was a natural match and was especially important during the recession, when jobs were scarce and there plenty of competition for the jobs that were available. 

“Our intent was to do all this training and get all these jobs, but no one was hiring. We had to regroup,” said Carol Dombek, the Program Manager for the Minnesota State Energy Sector Partnership. “We’ve got some great projects here in Minnesota, we’re getting people trained and getting people into jobs. 

“We will exceed all of our goals by the time the project is done on June 1,” she added. 

Dombek says the Minnesota State Energy Sector Partnership was recognized as one of the 25 top performing ARRA grants. The partnership funded 25 projects around the state in total, training over 1,700 workers and 1,000 workers are expected to enter employment by mid-2013. You can get more information on the Governor’s Workforce Development Council website. 

Photo: Jerome Balsimo and Carol Dombek at the Minnesota State Capitol.

Recent weeks have seen a big shift in attention in Minnesota’s Legislature on two key issues for the states future: clean energy and transit.

Transit 

Earlier this week, transit advocates — including the BlueGreen Alliance’s Regional Program Manager for Minnesota Katie Gulley — held a news conference to promote a bill to fund and expand transit around the state. Dozens gathered in the State Capitol to support the effort. From Twin Cities Daily Planet: 

The goal is a “comprehensive build-out” of public transit in Minnesota, one designed to keep the state’s economy competitive – and its environment clean.

Transit is a “vital component to our cleaner future,” said Katie Gulley, regional program director for the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of labor and environmental groups. Expanding the transit system, she added, will reduce carbon emissions and “ensure people around the state can get where they need to go efficiently and cost effectively.”

Of course, transit investments also create jobs – a fact not lost on the hard-hat-wearing students from Summit Academy OIC, who flanked speakers at the transit press conference. The Minneapolis vocational school provides training for adults from economically depressed communities.

Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, a Minneapolis DFLer whose district includes Summit Academy, co-authored Senate File 297. “In addition to getting people to jobs, this bill is critical to jobs,” he said.

Clean Energy 

An effort by organizations — including the BlueGreen Alliance — to raise the state’s Renewable Electricity Standard to 40 percent by 2030, increase energy efficiency, and implement a state solar energy standard, had hearings in the House earlier in the week and in the Senate yesterday. 

After passage of the House bill, the Minnesota Clean Energy & Jobs campaign released this statement:

“Today, we are one-step closer to a cleaner energy future in Minnesota. The House Energy Omnibus bill includes an increase in the Renewable Electricity Standard, establishes a solar energy standard for our state, and includes critical local power provisions that will make these clean energy sources more affordable for Minnesotans. All of these measures will help to ensure that Minnesota is a center for clean, renewable energy and that we are creating and supporting jobs in our state.” 

It’s an exciting time to be a Minnesotan. Like other parts of the country, such as California, forward-thinking leaders are working build up clean energy and transit, not tear them down like in other parts of the country. 

We’ll keep you informed of the progress of both these important measures.

PHOTO: The BlueGreen Alliance's Katie Gulley addresses reporters at a press event supporting transit investment in Minnesota. 

The following post is from Stephanie Hernandez, Communications Intern for the BlueGreen Alliance.

The recent report that shows Minnesota’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions fell three percent from 2005 to 2010 is great news. Like many parts of the world, Minnesota’s climate has been affected by climate change and the news of reduced carbon pollution shines a light on future opportunities to reduce emissions even more. A three percent reduction is no small achievement, but recent testimony by local scientists on the changes we’re seeing in local weather demonstrate that there’s much more to be done.

We can see evidence of the changing weather locally in events like the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, which for a second year in a row faces the chance of postponement or cancellation due to insufficient snow. Recent testimony at the Minnesota State House of Representatives hearings, provided by University of Minnesota scientists, echoed troubling evidence of weather changes we’re seeing across the country. The U.S. Global Change Research Project reported earlier this month that “the American Midwest could see another 4.9-degree increase in average temperatures by midcentury.” An increased temperature — in addition to the 3-degree increase already seen in Minnesota over the last 30 years — can only mean more storms and unpredictable weather.

With this in mind, there is a push for legislators to work towards policies that do even more to address climate change. Minnesota is already a leader in renewable energy — passing a Renewable Electricity Standard that was signed by then-Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty — as well as energy efficiency and renewable fuels. Due to these efforts, electricity production and transportation led to declines in utility emissions- dropping 13 percent —and transportation emissions — dropping 10 percent. Where there’s a concerted effort to address climate change, we are seeing results. The real question is where we can capitalize on opportunities to reduce emissions even more in the future.

One of the unintended consequences of the economic recession and slowing manufacturing production was a drop in emissions. Now that industrial production is picking back up again, we’ll need to find a new way to cut back on emissions.  

David Thornton, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, stated about emissions “We’re not sure about where it’s going to stabilize. Emissions from transportation are likely to continue to fall as automakers work toward raising the current mandated average fuel efficiency from 29 miles per gallon to 54.5 in 2025.”

Without a doubt, Minnesota’s drop in greenhouse gas emissions is a crucial indicator that emission reduction is a realistic possibility. Minnesotans should continue to lead the way towards greener climate and energy efficiency. And, if their past efforts are any indication of future performance, they will. 

The following post is from Tarryl Clark, National Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance’s Jobs21! campaign. 

Earlier today I joined dozens of proud Minnesotans who heard U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announce a $3.3 million grant for the St. Cloud areas Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) to renovate its bus operations center to accommodate vehicles powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). In addition, the funds would be used to build a CNG fueling station. The last 10 buses purchased by the MTC were purchased locally from the New Flyer Bus Company in St. Cloud, who employs members of IUE-CWA.

The Secretary was joined by local leaders and U.S. Senator Amy Kloubchar, and he spoke about the importance of sustainable transportation systems to jobs and our environment. “In Minnesota and across the country, President Obama is committed to investing in sustainable transportation systems that improve access to jobs, education and medical care for millions of riders, while bringing cleaner air to our communities and reducing our dependence on oil,” said Secretary LaHood. “These projects will also help transit agencies operate more efficiently, so they save money in the long run.”  

The grants are part of the Clean Fuels Grant Program, and in total 27 projects around the U.S. are receiving almost $60 million in funds to get communities to purchase greener buses that reduce emission and have improved fuel economy. Check out this map to see what clean fuel projects were funded near you. 

St. Cloud is a great example of rural transit in the U.S. The city of just over 70,000 has a vibrant transit system, with buses running seven-days-a-week throughout the city and smaller communities surrounding it. However, like most transit systems, it has to raise rates to make up for lost funds from the federal, state and local level over the last few years. 

Transit is a necessary component to a strong economy and a key component of the Jobs21! plan. It was great to see the Obama administration show their support for St. Cloud’s transit system today and reward them for their forward thinking plans for a cleaner, more efficient bus fleet. 

The following post is from Katie Gulley, Regional Program Manager for the BlueGreen Alliance.  

You might not think of Duluth, MN as a haven of wind energy jobs, but the truth is that workers at the port in that city understand how important wind energy is to them when they’re shipping blades and components through the Great Lakes. Yesterday I was in Duluth, on the shore of Lake Superior on a beautiful summer day, with local environmental and labor leaders from the Sierra Club, United Steelworkers and other unions to call on Congressmen Chip Cravaack from Minnesota and Sean Duffy from Wisconsin to push for and support an immediate extension of the Production Tax Credit for wind power. If this 2.2-cent per kilowatt hour tax credit isn’t extended, America could lose half the jobs in its wind industry and part of the reason the Duluth port has been so bustling will be a distant memory. 

Workers at the event focused not just on the local job impact, but on the larger impact to Minnesota, Wisconsin and the rest of America. Ray Pierce, Jr., a member of United Steelworkers Local 6115 said, “Every one of these wind turbines consists of 8,000 parts and 200 tons of steel. And, when you consider that since 2005 the domestic content in American wind turbines has grown from less than 25 percent domestic content to 60 percent in 2011, that’s a lot of jobs for workers from Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as workers throughout the U.S.” 

The impact won’t just be felt economically, it will be felt environmentally, according to John Doberstein, an Executive Committee member of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter. “The wind power installed in Minnesota will avoid 5.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. In Wisconsin, wind avoids 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. For Congressmen Cravaack and Duffy, this should be a no-brainer.” 

Check out coverage from the event from Fox21 in Duluth.

New Chart and Graphic Shows State-By-State Breakdown of Jobs Created, Gasoline Saved, Net Savings to Consumers and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction 

With the imminent Obama Administration announcement of historic fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles (54.5 miles per gallon, on average, by 2025), the BlueGreen Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council have assembled a detailed accounting of the huge benefits that are projected to accrue by the year 2030. 

The data include a state-by-state breakdown of the 570,000 jobs that could be created in the United States by 2030 — as well as other benefits from the standard. In addition to the jobs created, the country will save nearly 23 billion of gasoline in 2030 alone, resulting in $54 billion in net savings to consumers and the reduction of 270 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution, which helps cause global warming. 

The upcoming 54.5 mpg standards promise to bolster the strong automobile recovery we are seeing today. The chart and graphics with state-by-state numbers can be found below. Click them to see the larger version.

2030 State Benefits of Achieving 54.5 mpg-equivalent Fleet Average in Model Year 2025 

Sources: Natural Resources Defense Council and BlueGreen Alliance

• State fuel and pollution savings are from analysis by NRDC. These figures update and augment similar tables provided in NRDC’s “Relieving Pain at the Pump” publication from April 2012. Main adjustments include updates to fuel prices and vehicle miles traveled per the latest forecasts in the Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2012.
• State jobs figures are from BlueGreen Alliance’s analysis for “Gearing Up: Smart Standards Create Good Jobs Building Cleaner Cars”, June 2012. 

Table 1: Jobs Created and Annual Consumer Savings of Model Year 2017 to 2025 Standards in 2030

For additional background information on the new fuel efficiency standards, see http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/obama_administration_set_to_fi.html. 

This blog, by Todd Sanford, is cross-posted from the Union of Concerned Scientists blog. 

We couldn’t have chosen more appropriate weather (hot!) to mark the release of our report looking at changing summer heat in the Midwest. Millennium Park in Chicago was just beginning to get really hot and Crown Fountain crowded as we discussed the summer heat trends that Chicago has experienced over the past 60 or so years.  A true “DT” day, indeed.  (You’ll have to read the report to find out what that means.  No spoilers here).  The report finds that, on average, summer weather is changing in ways that increase the risk of heat-related health impacts in large Midwestern cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.

There are many ways to measure heat, including maximum temperature and heat index. We chose to look at what are called air masses. Think of the large umbrella of air over a city that is described by its temperature, dew point (a measure of humidity), wind, and cloudiness. We were ultimately concerned with how changing summer weather impacts human health. Air masses do this nicely as they capture multiple weather variables that the body responds to in one fell swoop.

Increasing trends in dangerous air masses

We focused on two types of air masses that have historically been associated with negative impacts to human health. The first is the very dry and hot air mass. The other is hot and humid.

We looked at the most extreme subset of the hot and humid air masses. We also took a look at a class of air masses that are dry and cool. These are the nice, summer days that provide relief from the heat. It would stand to reason that if more summer days are coming in the form of stifling heat then there would be less cool days.

The short version of the story is that most of the cities we looked at are now, on average, seeing more hot and humid and hot and dry days per summer than they did five or six decades ago. And to no real surprise these trends are accompanied by an overall decrease in cool and dry summer days.

We also found rather strong trends in increasing overnight temperatures in the dangerous air masses. This has health implications since people often rely on cooler nighttime temperatures to provide relief from oppressive daytime heat. It appears that for the dangerous air masses this relief may be decreasing as time goes on.

Finally, the number of three or more consecutive day events of these hot air masses occurring each summer has also increased. The number of these “heat waves” may at first seem modest as we’re seeing increases of up to four per summer over the record. However, the impacts of any one event can be substantial. A one-off day of hot weather can be manageable, but string together many days in a row and the situation can become dangerous.

Climate change increasing risk of heat-related health impacts

One thing our study did not do is to directly determine if the trends we are seeing in the Midwest are due to human activities.  However, we looked at smaller, partner cities and found similar trends to the larger cities. This implies that the heat trends in the larger cities are not being driven by urban heat island effects alone. The picture that emerged is consistent with a general climate trend. Looking at 60 years of data also rules out the case of trends arising from short-term events, such as a strong La Nina.

Heat presents a real threat to human health. It has been responsible for more deaths than all other natural disasters combined over the period 1979-2003. The trends we found aren’t based on models, but on real weather data over the past six decades. This is what folks in the Midwest have actually experienced. This also appears to be a risk that is not going away.  Many studies have projected increases in future heat waves and temperatures in general, including for the Midwest. All of our study cities are currently engaged, at some level, with adaptation planning as we discuss in the report, but will it be enough for a hotter future?

The following post is from Katie Gulley, Regional Program Manager for the BlueGreen Alliance in Minnesota.

Monday, I had the pleasure of visiting International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 343’s Training Facility in Rochester, MN with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman (listen to an interview he did with us during his visit here).  For the last three years, IBEW has offered a wind training certification program to teach unemployed electricians and others the skills they need to construct, install and maintain America’s wind turbines.

These workers are excited to get back to work, and they should be in high demand since IBEW staff says the start of a single wind farm can employ 45 electricians. Unfortunately, these jobs are becoming harder to come by. Why is this, you may ask, when Minnesota, alone, installed more than 540 megawatts of wind energy last year?

The answer is that the wind energy industry is already beginning to prepare for the loss of the Production Tax Credit for wind energy — a 2.2-cent tax credit for every kilowatt-hour of wind energy produced. Although Congress still has time to renew this tax credit, union officials say companies are putting projects on hold while they wait to see if Congress acts.

From the Rochester Post Bulletin:

Becky Thofson, who helps area residents find jobs, said she told the deputy secretary that she has seen a noticeable slowdown in wind-farm development.

“We've got shovel-ready projects waiting, but I think a lot of them are depending on the tax credits,” said Thofson, industrial sectors projects manager for Workforce Development Inc. in Rochester.

Minnesota’s wind industry is strong. As Deputy Secretary Poneman said, “Minnesota is on the front lines of America’s growing clean energy economy. Its innovative businesses and training programs will develop a workforce with the skills necessary for the manufacturing jobs of the future.”

It’s now time for Congress to do its part and renew the Production Tax Credit, the 1603 Treasure grant program and the Advanced Energy Project Credit so we can save American jobs and get the new graduates of IBEW Local 343’s program back to work. Learn more and take action here.

(PHOTO: Deputy Secretary of Energy Poneman discusses green jobs training in Rochester, MN)

The following post is from Eric Steen, Deputy Director of Communications at the BlueGreen Alliance.

Monday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman visited Minnesota to visit the test labs of Daikin McQuay in Plymouth and toured the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 343 clean energy training facility in Rochester (read more about that part of the trip in this post from Katie Gulley, our Regional Program Manager for Minnesota, who attended the event).

Here's the news release from the Department of Energy.

The purpose of the visit was to promote important tax incentives from the Recovery Act that have expired — particularly the 48C Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit — and highlight the need to sustain other job-creating tax credits, like the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind.

Daikin McQuay received $1.4 million in Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credits (48C) under the Recovery Act to expand its manufacturing operations in Fairbault, Minn., and engineering facilities and test labs in Plymouth, Minn. It is the first and only company thus far to meet the Energy Department’s Rooftop Unit Challenge, which challenged manufacturers to produce commercial air conditioning units that use 50 to 60 percent less energy than traditional rooftop cooling units.

The PTC is pivotal to keeping and creating jobs in the wind industry and it is set to expire at the end of this year. Already, companies like Gamesa in Pennsylvania are feeling the crunch from Congress' failure to act to extend it. If action isn't taken soon, more layoffs will follow and opportunities to create good jobs will be missed.

Deputy Secretary Poneman was kind enough to do an interview with the Blue-Green Blog during his trip. Here's the audio:

Both the 48C and the PTC are components of Jobs21!, the BlueGreen Alliance's plan to keep and create good jobs here in America in the industries of the 21st century — renewable energy, manufacturing, energy efficiency, transportation, recycling, broadband Internet, smart grid, and green and safer products and chemicals.

Get the facts take action today to help save and create American jobs by extending these important tax credits.

(PHOTO: Deputy Secretary of Energy Poneman speaks with IBEW Local 343 members in Rochester, MN)