Smartpower & the Badger State

Posted on March 12, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

by Willy Ritch

Face it, the economic news isn’t very good these days: 63,000 jobs lost, $4 gas predicted this spring, foreclosures, a falling dollar…. Lately you’ve had to have a strong stomach to pick up a newspaper. The reasons for our current economic malaise are complex, to be sure, but many of our problems–and some of our solutions–flow from our approach to energy.

When you say “clean energy” most people think of saving the planet. But the reality is that making the switch, economy-wide, to renewable energy does a lot more than just help save the planet (as if that’s not enough.) Making the transition is going to create tons of new opportunities–and lots of jobs. In Wisconsin, for example, it’s predicted that green energy will create 35,000 jobs in the next ten years. That’s a serious economic boost.

Green jobs will be the focus of the Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit this week, and SmartPower’s Brian Kean will be a keynote speaker. Brian will be talking about “Green Collar Jobs and Economic Development.”

“I am honored to keynote this summit. The participants and attendees of this conference are the regional leaders of the clean energy industry and collectively we are helping the nation and the world move toward a clean energy society. Everyone at this conference understands that clean energy is real, it’s here, and it’s working.�?

Wisconsin has a great track record in their approach to renewable energy, and as other states finally catch on and the competition for green jobs heats up, I imagine that Wisconsin’s head start will pay off. In a report out this week the Center on Wisconsin Strategy found that energy efficiency is the shortest route to creating jobs AND reducing carbon emissions.

Congressman James Sensenbrenner is doing his part. Sensenbrenner is the ranking Republican on the House Global Warming Committee and has been making the case for production tax credits–a key element to successful and sustainable clean energy development:

“The House Ways and Means Committee doesn’t want to make any of these things permanent, which I believe is a mistake,” he said. When Sensenbrenner asked each witness to choose the two most important incentives, most favored the research and development and production tax credits. All said long-term extensions are necessary to eliminate market uncertainty.

Congratulations to Brian for being selected as a keynote speaker at this important conference, and congratulations to Wisconsonians for having such a forward-looking view of energy.

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