Last week, Mid-America Energy Co. announced that they will be investing $1.9 billion investment in wind in Iowa. The project will generate over 1,000 megawatts of power in the state by 2015, create hundreds of direct jobs (and more indirect jobs creating the components for the 656 turbines), and reduce electricity rates for customers of the utility by up to $10 million per year by 2017. 

From an editorial supporting the investment in the Sioux City Journal:

Because wind is in inexhaustible supply and some 75 percent of Iowa is considered suitable for wind-energy development with an estimated total resource of 570,000 megawatts of electricity, we haven't scratched the surface of the potential for this industry in our state. 

In the larger picture, wind energy is good for America. For the long-term economic, strategic and security interests of the nation, we support a diverse portfolio of energy options, including oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear and renewable sources such as wind and biofuels like biodiesel and ethanol. It makes no sense for the country to put all of its energy eggs into one or two baskets, so to speak. For those reasons, the decision by Congress in January to extend tax credits for the wind and biofuels industries was money well spent. 

As the importance of renewable energy grows, Iowa's importance as a leader in the field (Iowa also ranks first for ethanol production and third for biodiesel production) grows. 

That's something all of us who live and work in this state should be excited about.

Around the country, states, cities, and even private companies are taking the move to a clean energy economy seriously. Congress must do that as well. With the right policies and investments, we could be seeing projects like this all over the country — providing renewable energy, good jobs for workers, and dramatically reducing the carbon pollution that is causing climate change. 

America is ready for leadership in clean energy. We’re ready for good, family-supporting jobs. We’re ready for cleaner air. Now, we need to push Congress to get ready as well. 

THE TOP 10 FOR MAY 13

Blue-Green leaders – United Auto Workers President Bob King and National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger have a joint opinion piece that says we should duplicate the labor-environmental collaboration that lead to vehicle fuel efficiency standards that will nearly double fuel efficiency in light-duty vehicles by 2025 — cutting emissions and creating good jobs. (Toledo Blade)

Appointments – We may see movement this week on the appointment of Dr. Ernest Moniz to head the Department of Energy, but Republican stall tactics are still holding up the appointment of Gina McCarthy to head the EPA. (The Hill)

Stuck in red tape – It’s been three years since the “chemicals of concern” list— a list of chemicals that may present an unreasonable risk to human health and/or the environment — was proposed, but it’s been stuck in the red tape of the Office of Management and Budget. (Public Integrity)

Threatened by climate – A number of common plants and animals around the world are in danger of losing about 50 percent of their range by 2080 if climate change continues unabated. (Los Angeles Times)

Tracking carbon footprints – Around the world, cities are working to determine the size of their carbon footprints by using monitors in high places around them. (Associated Press)

Refugees – As carbon dioxide rises to record levels in human history,agriculture failure may lead to hundreds of millions of climate refugees. (The Guardian)

Antiquated measuring sticks – It may be time to hang up the way we’ve been measuring droughts here in the U.S. (E&E News)

Solar in MN – The Minnesota State Senate passed a one percent solar energy mandate last week and now a conference committee will have to iron out the differences between the Senate bill and its House counterpart (which has a four percent solar standard). (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Storage solutions – Innovations in battery technology may allow for more efficient storage of excess wind and solar energy, revolutionizing the technology. (USA Today)

Companies look to build up solar – A number of solar energy companies are working together to form a lobbying group to counter efforts by some utilities that are seeking to squash the burgeoning industry. (Bloomberg)

BLUE-GREEN LINKS

E&E News: Utility wins rate increase as costs of climate policies rise

Toledo Blade (OH): ProMedica Wildwood Orthopeadic and Spine Hospital gets energy savings

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The following blog is written by Samantha Sewell, Conference and Events Program Director for the BlueGreen Alliance

While I was growing up, I spent every summer on my family’s farm in Southern Oklahoma. My cousins and I would explore the creeks and pastures with intense curiosity. We’d go fishing, climb the strong oak trees, and help our grandmother tend the garden. I was well acquainted with cows, horses, spiders and snakes. Through that experience, I gained an appreciation for the delicate balance we all need to work to maintain. There are few other places than on a farm where we see how much we all depend on clean air, an abundant water supply, and the weather to grow food and fuel our livelihoods. Becoming a mom for the first time last year only strengthened my beliefs that we need to protect the environment around us.

Living within the boundaries of a major metropolitan city doesn’t make it easy to instill an appreciation and enjoyment for the outdoors. Despite the urban environment we live in, it’s a top priority for my son — who’s now an adventurous and curious toddler — to spend time in our yard and for us to make it to nearby state and national parks on the weekends. In our own backyard, he helps me garden and compost. He may not yet understand the full meaning of these tasks other than having fun playing in the dirt, but he’s beginning to learn by example. Beyond instilling an appreciation for the environment around us, my husband and I are working to teach him the value of conservation and preservation through reusing, recycling and saving energy around the house.

Environmental awareness is more than appreciating nature, it’s also about limiting the human effect on it. For example, motherhood has made me more aware of everything we don’t know about the cleaning products under the sink, what kind of containers we use to store our food and even the shampoos and soaps we use. Speaking with other moms, chemical safety and knowing more about the health effects about the products we use every day is similarly a priority for them.

Last, as moms everywhere can attest, being a mom is far from a worriless job, be it daily concerns or something more long-term. Climate change has both short- and long-term implications for our communities. In the long term, I want the places I enjoyed visiting growing up, including our family farm, to still be there for my son’s enjoyment. Rising water levels and rising temperatures threaten to eliminate our ability to enjoy the best parts of the country.

In honor of Mother’s Day, thanks to all the moms out there for passing on environmental awareness to the next generation and in turn generations to come. Truly instilling the value of the world around us means our children view clean air and clean water as invaluable resources to both appreciate and protect. 

THE TOP 10 FOR MAY 10

A GOP civil war on climate? – A growing number of Republicans are embracing reason — in the form of science and extreme weather — over ideology on climate change, and that could cause a huge split in the GOP. (National Journal)

GOP hold up EPA nominee – Senate Democratic lawmakers are angry after the Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee boycotted the hearing on Gina McCarthy to head the EPA. (Politico)

Can’t make it up – Even after the horrific tragedy in West, Texas, state lawmakers and Governor Rick Perry still show disdain for increased protections in the workplaces. (New York Times)

Doubling down – GE thinks that wind turbine installations will double next year after last year’s lull. (Bloomberg)

Manufacturing hubs – The White House will coordinate three competitions in different parts of the U.S. to win $200 million to develop manufacturing innovation hubs. (Entrepreneur)

Stronger labor market – The lowest jobless claims number in five years hints that the U.S. labor market is growing stronger. (Reuters)

Wind industry focuses on long-term growth – Discussions at the American Wind Energy Association Windpower Conference focused on how to grow the industry in the long term. (E&E News)

Tighter chemical controls – The United Nations has announced more than 120 countries have reached a deal to put tighter controls on several chemicals and on hazardous waste. (AP)

Biden in Rolling Stone – Check out the interview with Vice President Joe Biden that features several questions on climate change. (Rolling Stone)

Past shows the future – Will the Arctic be ice free in our future? A look to the past may answer that question. (TIME Ecocentric)

BLUE-GREEN LINKS

Platts: US House Republicans say wind tax credits could hurt grid reliability

The Hill: Obama officials roll out climate and health data tool

Denver Post (CO): Colorado renewable energy bill gets call for veto from GOP lawmakers

Shelby News Gazette (IL): Senate panel backs Lake Michigan wind study

WWLP (MA): WMass businesses pitch clean energy bills

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Justifiably, our nation’s ports have earned the reputation of being gritty, noisy and industrial gateways to our shores. However, this grimy image should not preclude us from viewing our ports as an important opportunity to improve our efficiency and sustainability. A recent speech by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is showing that with the right investments, our nation’s ports can be a shining example of how investments in clean energy can also invigorate the economy.

Citing the Port of Los Angeles as an example of the vast potential to clean up our ports, save energy and curb emissions, Villaraigosa touted a $1.5 billion investment to modernize LA’s port as the catalyst for sweeping upgrades. The changes to LA’s port included upgrades to trucks that operate around the port, encouraging the use of onshore electricity for cargo ships and requiring cargo ships to find new ways to curb emissions. Also helping to curb emissions, California recently mandated that cargo ships visiting the state’s ports turn off idling or plug into onshore power.

These changes represent significant progress for one of the country’s biggest ports. The port of Los Angeles is responsible directly or indirectly for 1.1 million jobs in California and handles $223 billion in U.S. trade value. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach combined handle about 40 percent of the total value of cargo container imports entering the U.S.

Mayor Villaraigosa showed outstanding leadership charging forward with this initiative. "When it comes to greening our shipping operations and growing our port in smart and sustainable ways, the world looks to us for leadership," he said. Likewise, the industry has also lead by example by publicly committing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  

It goes to show strategic efforts to expand clean energy and curb greenhouse gas emissions can produce meaningful results across the economy, be it in solar and wind power, vehicle fuel efficiency or at our ports. 

The folks over at Policy Matters in Ohio have issued a new report that says the Buckeye State could be a key player in the supply chain for the growing electric vehicles (EV) market in the U.S.

The report says that positive policy changes — like the increased fuel-efficiency standards put forward by the Obama administration, federal and state incentives for EV purchases, and investments in charging infrastructure — are succeeding at making EVs attractive to car buyers, and that could mean jobs in Ohio. If, that is, the state acts now to utilize the manufacturing knowledge of its work force and promotes existing manufacturers to get in the EV parts manufacturing market.

The group’s Green Electricity and Transpiration (GET) Smart policy solutions are the vehicle to achieving this goal. They boil down to a few simple, but effective, ideas that will drive growing in the EV supply chain in Ohio. From the report:

• Create a Transportation Choice fund in Ohio's transportation budget. By 2030, ramp funding up to 10 percent of the state’s multi-billion dollar transportation budget;
• Expand Ohio’s Advanced Energy Fund and using it to provide grants, rebates, vouchers, and low-interest loans to promote EV adoption;
• Protect and expand Ohio’s clean energy laws;
• Identify existing Ohio manufacturers that can participate in the EV supply chain, helping them retool to meet the needs of this industry, and investing in related research and development.

Notice that promoting clean energy and sustaining the work already done in the state is a vital component of their plan. Clean energy and electric vehicles go hand-in-hand.

Making sure the energy we use to charge electric vehicles is clean and renewable only makes sense. It reduces carbon pollution, while also creating even more good jobs in other sectors for workers making the components to generate power from wind, solar, and other renewable sources and those in the building trades installing and maintaining them. And, more and more ways are being developed to help EVs move excess energy back into the grid for all of us to use.

The bottom line is that to reduce our imports of foreign oil, make our economy stronger by creating new jobs and making our current jobs more secure, and fighting climate change, we need to move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, including EVs.

THE TOP 10 FOR MAY 9

Taking my ball and going home – The Senate GOP stayed classy today by boycotting a committee vote on the nomination of Gina McCarthy to head the EPA. Without two Republicans, the committee was unable to have the vote, under Senate rules. (Politico)

Time to vote – That’s what Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon told reporters about the stalled confirmation of President Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz. (The Hill)

800,000 years – Scientists say that carbon dioxide levels are at their highest point in at least 800,000 years. (Washington Post)

U.S. proposal gains traction – A plan to let counties draft their own plans for how they will reduce their emissions in order to  meet international climate change goals has gained traction. (The Guardian)

Efficiency bill clears hurdle – An energy efficiency bill in the Senate breezed past its first challenge in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee yesterday. The BlueGreen Alliance’s Lee Anderson attended the hearing and has a recap of it on the BGA blog. (The Hill)

Water – The Senate agreed to several amendments to its pending water infrastructure bill yesterday morning. (The Hill)

Quite the windfall – A $1.9 billion dollar investment in wind energy in Iowa by MidAmerica Energy — a power utility serving 714,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota — will add over 1,000 megawatts of wind energy generation to their portfolio. (Des Moines Register)

Prince of Wales – Prince Charles gave a speech at St. James Palace criticizing climate skeptics and businesses that fail to care for the environment, and comparing the Earth to a patient in the hospital, saying, "The risk of delay is so enormous that we can't wait until we are absolutely sure the patient is dying." (Guardian)

Clean energy under attack – A letter to the editor points out the folly of weakening or eliminating the clean energy laws in Ohio that have brought renewable energy and more tthousands of jobs and 400 clean energy companies to the state. (Columbus Dispatch)

Clean energy down under – Australia has established a Clean Energy Finance Corporation with $10 billion to invest to spur investment in clean energy. (Earth Techling)

BLUE-GREEN LINKS

Science Insider: NIH Details Impact of 2013 Sequester Cuts

Nature: The cleaner state

Los Angeles Times: Don't dilute CEQA, improve it

New York Times: Foes Suggest a Tradeoff if Pipeline Is Approved

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The following blog post is written by Lee Anderson, Senior Policy and Legislative Advocate for the BlueGreen Alliance.

In a refreshing act of bipartisanship, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week approved three bills on hydropower and energy efficiency, advancing them to the full Senate. In a packed hearing room, one of these bills — the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, S. 761 — received particular attention for the lengths to which Senators on both sides of the aisle have gone in order to assure its broad-based support. 

Among other things, this bill authorizes $250 million in funding for grants to states through a program to be known as the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Financing Initiative. This provision aims to promote the financing of energy efficiency retrofit projects for both private and commercial sector buildings. 

A new Department of Energy (DOE) program called Supply Star will also be created to identify and promote practices, companies and products using highly efficient supply chains. Similarly, the bill directs DOE to encourage and support the adoption of building energy codes by state and local governments. With a focus on incentives, rather than mandates, it was noted by the Committee that full implementation of the bill’s provisions would result in national energy savings equivalent to the removal of 37 million homes from the grid and savings of $4 billion by energy consumers between now and 2030.

With collegiality the watchword of the day, the Committee also discussed upcoming Senate work to be done on the efficiency front. Senator Al Franken indicated his Energy Subcommittee would take up hearings over the coming weeks on the subjects of both building retrofits and on doubling the nation’s use of combined heat and power — utilizing energy and heat that would be wasted and instead using it to generate energy — in industrial settings. Further, Democratic Senator Chris Coons’ ongoing work on using Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) as a means of placing renewable and efficiency energy projects on par with fossil fuel projects was openly heralded by Republican Lisa Murkowski.  MLPs are a hybrid of partnership and corporate business structures that have been widely used in the oil and gas pipeline industry for 30 years. By allowing for competitive tax treatment, such structures can just as easily provide alternative energy projects with the same advantage enjoyed by fossil energy producers.

Moving forward with the Energy Savings legislation, a bit more work remains to be done on the Senate floor. Senator John Hoeven spoke briefly regarding a proposal to address how fossil energy use should be treated in federal facilities, to which the Committee expressed its willingness to work on those issues as Washington moves into the summer months. 

As the Committee’s business wound down, Senator Murkowski also noted that the day’s agenda — focused as it was on small hydropower projects and the unglamorous world of energy efficiency — had often been characterized as the pursuit of low-hanging fruit.  In a light-hearted moment generating laughter from across the political spectrum, she stated, ‘Going after low-hanging fruit is good. Let’s get some fruit!’

The fruit of true bipartisanship tasted delicious.

Around the country, there are courageous leaders in the fight to address climate change, but few are as outspoken or have taken such strong, decisive action as California Governor Jerry Brown. From smartly implementing AB32 — the state’s landmark law to address climate change and create good jobs in clean energy and energy efficiency — to implementing a 33 percent renewable energy standard by 2020, Brown’s leadership on climate has been strong and undeterred by critics. 

Brown isn’t afraid to tell people how he sees things. Just yesterday, he said that the early wildfire season in the state was due to the changing climate. From the Los Angeles Times:

Our climate is changing, the weather is becoming more intense,” Brown said in an airplane hangar filled with trucks, airplanes and helicopters used by the state to fight fires. “It’s going to cost a lot of money and a lot of lives. 

“The big issue (is) how do we adapt,” Brown said, “because it doesn’t look like the people who are in charge are going to do what it takes to really slow down this climate change, so we are going to have to adapt. And adapting is going to be very, very expensive.” 

With the snowpack in the Sierra mountains at just 17% of normal, state officials are bracing for a long, destructive fire season. State Natural Resources Secretary John Laird, who joined Brown at Monday’s press conference, said he was preparing for “a deadly year.”

Brown also says that because of a lack of action in Congress, the state must take expensive steps to adapt. He argues that the state must show restraint in the budgeting process to have the funds to deal with this growing crisis in the long-term. 

Lacking real leadership at the federal level, states and cities are doing great things to reduce carbon pollution and get their communities prepared for climate change. However, that is far from an ideal solution. We’re lucky to have leaders like Governor Brown that aren’t waiting for Congress to pull their heads out of the sand and realize that it is their communities — and their constituents — that will bear the brunt of climate change in the form of extreme weather, droughts, floods, and, yes, wildfires. 

There’s still time for us to protect ourselves from the impacts of climate change. We need immediate action at the federal level to both address climate change by reducing carbon pollution AND investments to our infrastructure to update it to be more efficient and prepared for the worst climate change will have to offer. Doing this will help our environment — cleaning up our air, water and soil — and our economy by creating good jobs for American workers.

THE TOP 10 FOR MAY 8

Lessons from Sandy – President Obama is meeting with electric utility CEOs and trade organizations to discuss lessons learned and actions taken since Super Storm Sandy left thousands without power and heat for weeks last year . (The Hill)

Hearing on West, Texas explosion – The wheels are being set in motion for a Senate oversight committee hearing on the West, Texas fertilizer facility that exploded last month, killing a dozen people. (The Hill)

Putting Europe on top of clean energy race – The environment ministers of Germany and France say their goal is to make Europe a clean energy “pioneer” by joining together to develop clean energy technology. (Businessweek)

A fine with teeth in pipeline explosion - The California Public Utilities Commission has leveed a $2.25 billion fine to PG&E for its culpability in a 2010 pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people. The San Jose Mercury News says the utility deserves the fine for failiing to test and repair pipelines. (San Jose Mercury News)

Green ports – Los Angeles is becoming a leader in greening its port by pushing for clean energy alternatives and reducing pollution . (Los Angeles Times)

Clean energy growing in Mass – A new virtual business incubator has been launched in Massachusetts by the state’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership. (Worcester Telegram)

$4.6 billion – That’s how much clean energy investment was made in Latin America last year, a 127 percent increase over 2011. (Earth Techling)

Phase one – The first phase of the U.S. Army’s $7 billion geothermal renewable energy program is underway. Five companies have been selected to build and maintain geothermal energy projects for the Defense Department. (Federal Times)

Canada loses appeal – The World Trade Organization ruled against Canada on its appeal of incentives the country is offering to domestic renewable energy companies. (PV Magazine)

GOP chair gets four Pinocchios on climate science claim – Recently, the chair of the House Subcommittee on the Environment questioned the scientific consensus on climate change, but the Washington Post fact checker gives him four of four Pinocchios for his assertion. (Washington Post)

BLUE-GREEN LINKS

Wall Street Journal: Apparel Retailers Confront Tough Options

Business Insider: Investors Are Now Profiting From The Fear Of Climate Change

Color Lines: How the Sierra Club Learned to Love Immigration

Politico: The politics of natural gas exports

The Hill: Gas industry accuses EPA of procedural rush

The Hill: Senior Republican presses Interior for ‘certainty’ on Arctic drilling

Asbury Park Press (NJ): Carbon fee is necessary to promote clean energy

Dallas Morning News (TX): Editorial: Lax disaster plan failed West

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