In the wee hours of Friday night, the State Senate all but scuttled Michigan’s chances of playing a significant role in America’s clean energy revolution by passing a bill that fails to provide support for new clean renewable or energy efficiency; while easing the path for utilities to recover costs for more coal and nuclear plants in Michigan.
“The Senate has pulled the rug out from under any opportunity for real progress on clean energy in Michigan,” said Danielle Korpalski of Environment Michigan. “By creating loopholes that enable energy companies to sidestep clean energy development in favor of more dirty and dangerous coal and nuclear power, the Senators that voted for this bill should be held accountable for negative impacts on our environment and economy for years to come.”
In addition to creating loopholes that will allow the utilities to stall or even completely avoid developing Michigan’s clean renewable energy sources, the Michigan Senate also stripped out much of the energy efficiency provisions in the bill that would have helped to reduce pollution and stabilize rates going forward.
To date, a majority of states in the U.S. have meaningful renewable energy standards in place that mandate a certain percentage of a state’s electricity supply come from clean sources of power like wind and solar. On May 1, 2008 neighboring Ohio became the 26th state to enact a renewable energy standard as well as an aggressive energy efficiency standard.
“We hope that House and Senate leaders can work together to restore integrity to this bill so that Michiganders can reap the benefits of a cleaner energy future,” stated Korpalski. “If not, they should go back to the drawing board.”
