News
Pawlenty calls for new energy future
The governor urged broad new steps toward energy independence. But many details remain to be worked out.
Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune
December 12, 2006
More home-grown energy, less use of fossil fuels and a new focus on countering global warming would bring Minnesotans a broad range of benefits, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Tuesday in calling for regulations, incentives and penalties aimed at making the state more energy-independent.
"Let's not wait for the future," he told a conference of farmer-energy producers in St. Paul. "Let's create our own future."
His plan envisions big increases in ethanol-rich fuel stations and highly energy-efficient buildings, big advances in renewable energy technologies and big decreases in electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions -- all designed to reduce Minnesota's dependency on fossil fuels and what he called "an outdated energy policy."
The state and nation's prosperity and security both depend on moving away from "funding both sides of the war on terror" via military spending and oil imports from "countries that don't like us," Pawlenty said.
The Republican governor's "Next Generation Energy Initiative" was presented Tuesday largely in outline form, with none of the financial details spelled out. But DFLers who will control the 2007 Legislature hailed the proposal as a breakthrough while also saying it falls short of their goals for ramping up electricity generation from wind.
"The winds of change have made it to the governor's office," said Rep. Aaron Peterson, DFL-Appleton. "It seems like he's now on board with real numbers for renewable energy."
Pawlenty called for Minnesotans to reduce their use of fossil fuels 15 percent by 2015, spurred by mandated annual reductions of 1.5 percent in utilities' retail sales of electricity and natural gas, a more than tenfold increase to 1,000 in the number of Energy Star commercial buildings and a fivefold increase to 1,800 in Minnesota outlets for the 85-percent ethanol motor fuel known as E85 -- both by 2010.
Unspecified financial incentives should be offered to encourage advancement toward those goals, the governor said, as well as for development of ethanol from trees or grass as well as biomass gasification -- futuristic technologies that he said "will be Minnesota's next bio-energy home run."
In addition, he repeated his proposed strategic goal that 25 percent of all of Minnesota's energy -- for electricity, transportation and heating -- come from renewable sources by 2025. That initiative, which would upgrade the state's current Renewable Energy Standard (RES) of 10 percent by 2015, has failed so far in the Legislature.
DFLers called Tuesday for a new target of 25 percent of electric generation from renewable sources, mainly wind, by 2020. A similar DFL proposal also has failed to pass the Legislature.
"Minnesota is already a leader in renewable fuels," Peterson said. "And while we support the governor's efforts to grow the renewable fuel market in Minnesota with next-generation ethanol, for example, there is a need to establish an RES for electricity."
On global warming, Pawlenty noted that "Minnesotans did not create this problem, nor can we solve it by ourselves." But he said the state can take "reasonable and fair steps" to cut greenhouse gases, including a requirement that electric utilities offset carbon emissions from new fossil-fuel generation plants.
That could be done by shutting down other operations or by buying emissions credits from registries such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, he suggested. He also said he is inviting the Center for Climate Studies, which he described as "nationally recognized," to help develop a broad state plan for cutting carbon emissions.
"Taking these steps," Pawlenty concluded, "will be good for the environment, good for rural economies, good for national security and good for consumers."
Conrad deFiebre • 651-222-1673 • cdefiebre@startribune.com
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