25x’25

A recent Associated Press story out of Michigan underscores a principle in clean energy policy development at the state level that is often missing in Washington. The story offers a microcosm of the ideal that should be expected by a forward-thinking nation of its leadership, instead of the sniping from political interests who, seeking to win at any costs, produce nothing except empty political rhetoric for use in election season sound bites. The AP story provides a lesson in bipartisanship.

According to the Associated Press, Dianne Bynum, the Michigan House’s first woman Democratic leader, and Mark Pischea, one of the state’s top Republican political consultants, have joined together to promote a measure requiring Michigan’s biggest utilities to generate 25 percent of their total electricity from renewable energy resources by 2025.

Despite the fact that Bynum, herself now a political consultant, and Pischea have come at multiple issues from totally opposite viewpoints, they have come together to collect the signatures necessary to get the provision enhancing the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard on the November ballot (the measure would replace an existing requirement of 10 percent in renewables by 2015).

Michigan Democrats in support of the initiative, according to the AP story, see at as a boost to technology innovation and an improved environment, while Republicans campaigning for the measure say it’s an economic issue that helps major companies in the state that have made big investments in “green energy” technologies like solar panels and wind turbines.

That Bynum, who has been the target in years past of Pischea attack ads while she ran for state legislative office, and Pischea, a former deputy executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, could find common ground in their pursuit of a clean energy future is heartening and suggests that maybe some at the local and state level can provide national lawmakers with a model of collaboration.

Of course, the Michigan campaign is hardly the first and only viable, state-level bipartisan effort to accelerate the development of renewable energy as a means of creating jobs and finding cleaner sources of power.

There are Renewable Portfolio Standards in place in states around the country, all market-based policies that are supported by Democratic and Republican leaders alike. In fact, like Michigan, more than half of the 31 states with RPSs have strengthened them since putting them in place, providing jobs while having a virtually zero statistically-significant impact on electric rates over the past decade.

It’s not as if bipartisanship in the pursuit of sustainable solutions to our nation’s energy challenges is unprecedented in Congress. The Energy Title of the 2008 Farm Bill, which offered a multitude of programs and funding aimed at producing the next generation of biofuels, is a prime example of what can be done when political rhetoric is given a rest and lawmakers work to pursue a common goal of improving the economy, particularly in rural America.

And the fact that members from both sides of the aisle came together last month to vote to extend many of those programs and guarantee funding for them in a Senate Agriculture Committee 2012 Farm Bill proposal is a high point.

The fear is that it could be an almost singular high point, given that the quality of debate is expected to erode the nearer the November elections approach. There is always room for legitimate debate among those who philosophically disagree. But lawmakers for too many recent years have been more interested in scoring political points rather than pursuing the people’s business.

The 25x’25 Alliance commends those lawmakers who see the benefits of working together, in spite of different party affiliations. The Alliance also calls on all renewable energy advocates to reach out to their elected officials, cite the solid examples of bipartisanship like those in Michigan and other states that have jointly pursued strong sustainable energy policies, and remind them that putting the people before politics is critical to our economic health.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, cellulosic, Congress, House of Representatives, Industry Developments, renewable energy, Senate, state leadership, Sustainability

Editor’s note: What follows are excerpts from remarks made last week by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at a forum staged by the Environmental Defense Fund. The 25x’25 REsource chose to highlight the remarks because Panetta is the highest-level official to draw a clear line between the role of the military and the development of new sources of sustainable energy since the Pentagon adopted a green energy strategy two years ago.
Our mission at the Department is to secure this nation against threats to our homeland and to our people.

The quest for energy is another area that continues to shape and reshape the strategic environment – from the destabilizing consequences of resource competition to the efforts of potential adversaries to block the free flow of energy.

These strategic and practical considerations weigh heavily on us at the Department of Defense. They weighed heavily on us as we developed our new defense strategy. In crafting that strategy, we decided that this could not just be an exercise in budget cutting.

It had to give us the opportunity to look to the future, and decide what is the Defense Department going to be, not only today but in the future. And that meant we have to be efficient, we have to be innovative, and we have to invest in the technologies of the future.

As one of the largest landowners and energy consumers in the world, our drive is to be more efficient and environmentally sustainable. We have to be able to have the potential to transform the nation’s approach to the challenges we are facing in the environment and energy security. We’ve got to look ahead to try to see how we can best achieve that.

Teddy Roosevelt once said that “in utilizing and conserving the natural resources of the nation, the one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight.”

One of the greatest strengths of the Department of Defense is our foresight. We take the long-term view – we have to take the long-term view – in everything we do. We must have the ability to adopt new technologies.

In the next fiscal year, we are investing more than $1 billion in more efficient aircraft and aircraft engines; hybrid electric drives for ships; improved generators and micro-grids for combat bases; and combat vehicle energy efficiency programs. We are investing another $1 billion to make our installations here at home more energy efficient, and we are using them as a test bed to demonstrate next-generation energy technologies.

Meanwhile, the Army, Navy, and Air Force have committed to adding about three gigawatts of renewable energy to installations in the coming years – one of the largest commitments to clean energy in the nation’s history.

As someone who now faces – and this is one of those bitter facts you confront at a place like the Department of Defense – we now face a budget shortfall exceeding $3 billion because of higher than expected fuel costs this year. I have more than a deep interest in more sustainable and efficient energy options.

Let me assure you that DoD is helping to lead this nation when it comes to preserving our environment and building a more sustainable and secure energy future. I know you’ll . . . hear from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on the Navy’s innovative efforts on clean energy and the environment. Through these and other visionary initiatives, I believe we are making the country more secure and protecting our national resources.

That’s our mission, that’s our goal, and that is the key to giving our children a better life in the 21st Century.

25x'25 25x'25, National Security 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, Biofuels, Biomass, cellulosic, clean energy, Congress, Federal Leadership, Forestry, national security, renewable energy, Sustainability

Renewable energy advocates across the sector were heartened by the Senate Agriculture Committee’s action last week when it adopted a proposed 2012 Farm Bill that not only included an Energy Title with critical farm energy programs, but called for mandatory funding for those programs.

Thanks to an amendment that was successfully advanced by Sens. Kent Conrad, D-ND, and Richard Lugar, R-IN, more than $800 million in mandatory funding was approved to support a wide variety of programs aimed at developing renewable energy projects, resources, feedstocks and even technology.

However, it’s hardly time to sit back and savor the victory.

The fact that an energy title, much less the programs, was even in the farm legislation is a credit to committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-KS).

The programs had their origin, or were reauthorized and revamped, in the 2008 Farm Bill. Without any authorization in a new farm bill, those 2008 programs could not continue to operate after September 30, 2012. Senators Stabenow and Roberts, friends of farm-based energy programs, submitted an original draft that reauthorized many of those critical programs and provided some discretionary funding for most, but no mandatory funding.

Unfortunately, in a time of budget restraint, there is simply no guarantee that congressional appropriators will set aside any money for those programs, thus the term “discretionary.” Having the farm energy programs on the books does little for America’s rural economy or its pursuit of a clean energy future if there is no money provided to carry them out.

Conrad and Lugar, with the help of senators on both sides of the aisle, decreased the vulnerability of the farm energy programs by inserting language that requires Congress to set aside money for them in specific amounts.

The Conrad-Lugar amendment would mandate over the life of the new farm bill (presumably, through September 30, 2016) some $241 million for Rural Energy for America Program and $193 million for Bioenergy Crop Assistance Program. Another $216 million would be required over the five-year period for the Biorefinery Assistance Program, $130 million for the Biomass Research and Development Program; while $15 million would be allotted for the Biobased Markets Program and $5 million for the Biodiesel Education Program.

The Senate committee action, however, is only the start of a very long and contentious legislative process. While there is hope that the bipartisan nature of the Senate approval of mandatory funding for 2012 Farm Bill Energy Title programs will help the measure succeed going forward, the underlying measure faces a tough battle on the Senate floor, where it is expected to be debated in what leaders say will be a “few weeks.”

Of course, there is also the likelihood that budget hawks on the House side of Capitol Hill will come after any funding they deem unnecessary for the basic operation of government. In fact, there is still some question as to just when the House might adopt its own version of a farm bill, with many suggesting that the partisanship so prevalent in this Congress will only amplify as the November elections draw near, endangering even farm policy legislation that has historically enjoyed broad bipartisan support.

25x’25 urges renewable energy advocates to continue their longstanding efforts to maintain farm energy programs by educating lawmakers about the economic value of these programs to rural America. These programs create jobs and they bring money into local economies. On a larger scale, they help this country reduce its dependency on foreign oil.

25x'25 Policy/Funding 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, Biofuels, Biomass, clean energy, Congress, House of Representatives, national security, Obama Administration, renewable energy, rural America, Senate, Solar, Sustainability, switchgrass, USDA, Wind

The following is a guest blog from Michael Bowman, a member of the 25x’25 National Steering Committee. Bowman, a founding member of the Alliance since 2004, is a fifth-generation Wray, CO, farmer, who produces wheat, corn and alfalfa. Bowman was a key leader in the passage of Colorado’s “Amendment 37,” the nation’s first citizen-initiated Renewable Portfolio Standard. He co-chaired Governor Bill Ritter’s Energy Transition Team in 2006, is a founding board member of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, and works domestically and internationally with the Savory Institute on grasslands improvement.

Last Thursday, the White House hosted a “Champions of Change” event, inviting 12 from more than 500 program alumni to meet with President Obama and share the stories of their work. I was honored to be one of those chosen to attend and was part of a group representing a vast cross-section of activities and issues, from immigration to empowerment of women, from a mentor helping start-up entrepreneurs to a veteran working within his community to create jobs.

I was chosen to represent the renewable energy sector. As many who subscribe to this blog will attest, the incredible work and time commitments of the National Steering Committee and its endorsing partners continues to bear fruit. The 25x’25 Vision established in 2004 is now a critical component of our nation’s energy future.

When it was my turn to share, I told the president: Biomass and biofuels are a “big deal.” I walked him through the math of our existing resources and put it into a context we could all appreciate: If we simply converted 17 percent of the known, annual agricultural and forest waste into biofuels, we would create a supply of domestic fuel three times the amount that would flow down the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. This is a domestic resource that can create thousands of new jobs, keeping the dollars our nation spends on energy within our own economy (and not to foreign oil producers) and creating a vibrant tax base across the entire country.

I further shared that supporting the federal Renewable Fuels Standard – the biofuels industry’s market driver – is the key to guaranteeing the flow of private capital into the marketplace.

I was able to conclude my remarks with the health nexus of our opportunity: displacing BTX (aromatics) in the current fuel supply with biofuels is an idea whose time has come. It is widely documented that aromatics are responsible for health costs exceeding $200 billion annually. By supporting a strong, domestic biofuels industry we not only set the stage for a rural renaissance across the agricultural and forestry sectors, but we also provide a practical roadmap to reducing the associated human costs of our current paradigm.

It was indeed an honor to spend this hour with President Obama along with the 11 other Champions of Change. He was kind to say that we are “ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things.”

But my seat wasn’t represented by a single ordinary citizen. It was representing each and every one of you: the National Steering Committee, the great people who comprise our sub-committees, the thousands of you who endorse and support our vision and work, and our staff.

It is the leadership of each and every renewable energy advocate that was present in that meeting. And it is the continuing commitment by all of you that will turn this much-needed vision into a reality.

25x'25 Achieving the Goal 25x'25 Vision, Agriculture, Biofuels, Biomass, cellulosic, clean energy, Congress, ethanol, Farms, Federal Leadership, Forestry, Geothermal, green jobs, House of Representatives, Industry Developments, infrastructure, national security, Obama Administration, renewable energy, Research, Senate, Solar, Sustainability, USDA, Wind