MICH GOV TALKS GREEN JOBS

Like so many governors around the country, Jennifer Granholm "gets" the multifaceted possibilities of New Energy. She argues that Michigan can produce wind and wave energy on the Great Lakes as well as make biofuels from algae, corn or waste wood products. She recently met on a possible black liquor gasification project that would generate biofuel from pulp and paper mill waste. She endorses the fuel cell research by Detroit automakers. And she talks about using Michigan's sea bed coral reefs for sequestration of captured power plant CO2 when that technology is developed.

Granholm believes New Energy is the key to Michigan leaving behind the decay of its one-industry car economy and opening up to the diversity of entrepreneurial and employment possibilities New Energy offers.

Granholm: "It's all about creating a new sector of the economy and the jobs that are going to be created…A lot of states are vying for this. But no other state has the assets that we have to be able to penetrate so many areas of alternative energy that are being pushed…In terms of the ability to manufacture, and the availability of that space to do that, nobody can compete with Michigan."

This is a far different tune than the one being played by recalcitrant leaders in backward states who recoil from the future of US energy.

Alternative Energy Could Mean New Manufacturing Jobs for Michigan
Kathy Barks Hoffman, December 6, 2007 (AP via Yahoo Finance)

WHO
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D); Glen Andersen, National Conference of State Legislatures, Denver

Michigan has tremendous coastal wind resources. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Granholm is not only out stumping in her state for New Energy is arguing that her state can apply auto industry capacity to become a leader in the new field. She is also advocating for a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to establish a mandate and baseline demand.

WHEN
- Granholm’s remarks came December 4 following one of her local roundtables promoting New Energy development in Michigan.
- Granholm wants the Michigan legislature to pass a 10% by 2015 RES.

WHERE
- Dowding Industries Inc. in Eaton Rapids is hiring 250 workers to build wind turbine components.
- The Michigan legislature is debating its own RES and also considering incentives for New Energy like tax breaks for companies that use Michigan-made parts.

WHY
- The wind energy industry has a 2-year waiting list for turbines because of a backlog of parts orders from manufacturers. Granholm contends Michigan automakers are perfectly positioned to move into manufacturing for those needs.
- Colorado New Energy authority Andersen points out that Colorado and other states are competing to lure manufacturers to their states but because of its history in the auto industry, Michigan has the infrastructure in place.
- Andersen also points out the manufacturers would be likely to choose a state that has an RES, assuring demand.

Michigan also has grasses it can cultivate for second generation ethanol. As do most states. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Granholm: "We've got the capacity, we've got the resources and we've got the know-how at the universities…There's no reason why we can't have this be a significant sector and a significant piece of diversifying the economy…owners of tool-and-die shops have come to these roundtables…it's such a natural for us to be able to convert the existing spaces and employees that we have into producing wind…"
- Andersen, on the relative competitiveness of Michigan and Colorado to lure wind energy manufacturers: "If you have the skill and the expertise and especially a work force already trained in manufacturing, I would think that would be an advantage…A lot of the industries think about, does the state have a strong renewable portfolio standard? Do we have a market in the state? That's one of the things that pushes this along…"