Time out for education on clean energy bill

Thursday, March 18, 2010

A letter to the editor of The Capital Times by Keith Spruce:

Dear Editor: Some opposition to the Clean Energy & Jobs Act (SB 450 & AB 649) rests on allegations of increases in the cost of energy under the act. This opposition could not find more contradiction when compared with the recent energy cost study report by Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission.

The Feb. 19 PSC study concludes that in all likelihood Wisconsin will be spending more on electricity in the long run if we don’t act to embrace renewable portfolio standards and take more aggressive action on energy efficiency. Somehow the cited a Wisconsin Policy Research Institute/Beacon Hill Institute study used as a basis to argue increased energy costs by some of the opposition could not be more off-key from our own state’s PSC analysis.

Every year, $16 billion leaves Wisconsin to pay for fuel. The Clean Energy Jobs Act is designed to improve our economy, save money and create jobs.

Maybe it’s a good to time to find common ground as we enter the post-peak-oil era and leave behind cheap fossil fuel that threatens us even more than a warm bottle of beer from global warming could.

Keith Spruce
Milwaukee