Alternative energy is real in Europe. But can it work in America and can it bring green jobs to Michigan? Governor Granholm hosted American and foreign officials who all had the same message– Yes, Michigan is a great place to start changing policy to help the economy and the planet. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports from Detroit.
TRX1: The US Secretary of Commerce and a range of other panelists endorsed the goals of the Midwestern Governor’s Association meeting on Jobs and Energy. The state budget tied up Jennifer Granholm the first day but she came the second day.
AX1: “We have to answer the question for individuals what’s in it for me?”
TRX2: The public was not invited to the auditorium of the Motor City Casino. But Governor Granholm wants the public to buy into alternative energy.
AX2: “There has to be public investment. And so for us to be able to reward individuals for choosing renewable energy has got to be a part of our strategy and that means when they were talking about feed in tariffs or in Michigan we want to have a more robust net metering system where individuals can decide to make money by becoming their own power generators, that’s what’s in it for me.”
TRX3: Germany, Holland and Denmark have led the world in wind and solar. They’ve also been taxing gasoline heavily. Friis Petersen is The Danish Ambassador to the U.S. He says government price signals are normal in a democracy. That’s what citizens want.
AX3: “we would, in Denmark, have to pay, you buy one car an ordinary gas fueled car you pay for three. You buy and electrical car and pay for one. That’s getting relative prices right if you want to increase the ability to pay and to demand electric cars. That will drive the market which is the only really efficient allocator of resources. We pay $12 a gallon but electricity is cheap.”
TRX4: Many of the 60 people in the audience have worked on the documents that were released at the event, one on energy infrastructure and another on Midwestern jobs.
AX4: “Those of us who have the opportunity to drive in the countryside in the UK and in Denmark have noticed when we pull up to a fuel station we are paying in excess of $10 a gallon. What advice would either of you offer to politicians in the United States to adjust the number of vehicle miles traveled?”
TRX5: Joan Ruddock is the UK’s Minister of Energy.
AX5: “I don’t think that a politician in the United States who proposed to put European levels of taxation on gas at the pump would last very long in office. So I wouldn’t advice. We have to acknowledge that we have different circumstances.”
TRX6: The British Energy Minister says the government has continued to raise taxes on gas. Brits are used to it. But she says policies shouldn’t go too far.
AX6: “When you’re going to make this travel to work why won’t you take the public transport. Then it’s sensible to make these arguments. Or if you’re going a distance that has a very fast train service then it makes sense to take the train and not your car. Those arguments we make all the time. But to tax to the point where people could not use a vehicle especially in a rural setting where they need it, that is politically unacceptable for us as well.”
TRX7: Gas in England is about $7 a gallon.
AX7: “We are going to go to low carbon vehicles and electric vehicles. That is our solution. You can’t just constrain carbon by price alone although price is important.”
TRX8: A Spanish based Energy company was represented at the event by Ralph Currey, President and CEO of North American operations. He says government price signals help his company fight half the battle.
AX8: “And the key thing for us is regulatory certainty and solving the problem of transmission. Those are the two big things but the Iberdrola Group is committed and will send the money.”
TRX9: In a backroom at the Casino, Governors Granholm and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin spoke to reporters.
For Michigan Now I’m Chris McCarus in Detroit.