As I was looking over the schedule of amazing workshops and presentations at the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference which is starting tomorrow, I got some of the best Green Jobs news I’ve heard in a while from an unlikely place: Michigan’s State of the State address. In an speech everyone expected to focus the downturn of the auto industry and jobs (Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country), Gov. Granholm came out with a bold plan to radically restructure the way power companies do business so that they make money by encouraging energy efficiency and decentralized energy production.  Gov. Granholm is saying it’s about time the power companies worked for energy conservation, rather than against it:

• Put utility companies in the energy efficiency business by changing how rates are set in the Public Service Commission. Today, these companies make money selling us electricity and natural gas. The more you use, the more money they make. Tomorrow, they’ll make money by helping us use less of both.  Unlike the coal we buy from Wyoming and Montana, money we spend on energy efficiency will produce tens of thousands of jobs in Michigan.
• Make Michigan the first state in the nation to let every homeowner, every business, become a renewable energy entrepreneur who can make money by installing solar panels or wind systems on their home or business and selling that renewable energy back to the power company.

If every state did this, the private sector would do a lot of the work we’ve been calling for  Not a bad idea to start with, but she goes further, saying “By the year 2020, Michigan will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for generating electricity by 45 percent,” AND promises:

To evaluate . . . both the need for additional electricity generation and all feasible and prudent alternatives before approving new coal-fired power plants.

This effectively kills Michigan’s six active coal plant proposals for the next year, if not for good.
It’s not quite the commitment of 80% reduction in all emissions by 2050 that we’ve been calling for, but along with the utility restructuring plan, good things are on their way to the state shaped like a mitten. I’ve been watching Michigan politics since a friend convinced me head there and work on a state race last October, and today am I glad I did!  My candidate, State Rep. Jennifer Haase, had me talking on the campaign trail about the jobs that could be created in Michigan constructing wind turbines and weatherizing homes.  Now Haase and her colleagues in the Michigan legislature have the chance to follow through on their campaign promises and create a clean energy economy out of a failing auto industry.

Normally I’d end my post here — that was a lot of good news for one day, from one state executive.  Granholm’s speech was so full of green goodies, that I can’t stop quoting her!  Here are the details of her Green Jobs proposal:

1. Create the Michigan Energy Corps to put thousands of unemployed Michigan citizens back to work this year, weatherizing 100,000 homes, schools and other public buildings, installing renewable energy technology, and turning our abundant natural resources into renewable fuels.
2. Launch Michigan Saves, which will allow Michigan families and businesses to weatherize their homes and install Michigan-made energy efficiency technology with zero upfront charges. The monthly savings will pay the cost of the improvements.

She ends by saying the “New energy sector represents our single best hope for new investment and new jobs.”  I hope that Michigan is read to follow, because this Governor is ready to lead.

Posted in Climate Policy, Coal, Coal Campaign, global warming, green jobs, innovation, Politics, Renewable Energy, United States