MUSKEGON, MI ? When the proponents and opponents of Proposal 3 to mandate 25 percent renewable energy in Michigan by 2025 gathered for a public forum, renewable energy was not debated.
The two sides of the ?25-by-25? proposal divided over methods and tactics. The actual renewable energy technologies and the public policies to support them were pretty much agreed upon at a public forum Monday evening at the Grand Valley State University Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Muskegon.
A group of 75 citizens heard pro-Proposal 3 advocates argue that a constitutional amendment before Michigan voters Nov. 6 is the only way to push renewable energy development in the state. The opponents of Proposal 3 countered that a constitutional amendment is a terrible way to set complex energy policy in Michigan.
That the forum including representatives from the pro-Proposal 3 Michigan Energy Michigan Jobs coalition and the anti-Proposal 3 Clean Affordable Renewable Energy coalition was organized in Muskegon was apropos. The forum was sponsored by the Muskegon Area Sustainability Coalition.
Important for West Michigan
The GVSU energy center in Muskegon has been at the forefront of the energy debate in Michigan over the past decade. The controversy of locating commercial wind farms on Lake Michigan was debated and eventually stalled in West Michigan.
Just to the north, Consumers Energy has built its first commercial wind farm with the Lakes Winds Energy Park expected to begin operating before the end of the year. In Muskegon County, officials at the county?s Wastewater Management System have contracted with Spanish-based Gamesa to investigate a wind farm on the massive county site, while economic developers and waterfront property owners continue to explore using Muskegon?s port to support renewable energy manufacturing.
Although against altering the Michigan Constitution through Proposal 3, Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Larsen told those at the Monday forum that her organization is fully behind the development of renewable energy industries that could create jobs in Muskegon and throughout the state.
?We support new energy technology and development,? Larsen said. ?But we believe in voluntary goals and incentive programs not constitutional mandates. Science and technology development can?t be mandated by a constitutional amendment. Such a mandate could even slow down science and technology development.?
The Sierra Club?s Tiffany Hartung, the Muskegon-based director of the environmental group?s Beyond Coal campaign in Michigan, said Proposal 3 will create jobs, reign in energy costs and improve Michigan?s air quality that will ease respiratory concerns of children and senior citizens.
?We see this as an important choice,? Hartung said. ?We do not want to go down the path of the status quo when we have a choice to select clean, renewable energy. There has not been a lot of productivity out of the Michigan Legislature, which on issues like this would be controlled by (public utilities) Consumers Energy and DTE.?
Muskegon industrialist Wes Eklund spoke against Proposal 3, but not in opposition of alternative and renewable energy development. The president of Fleet Engineers Inc. in Muskegon, a parts manufacturer for the trucking industry, said his study of Proposal 3 leaves too many unanswered questions, such as who will pay for the $12 billion investment in renewable energy estimated to be needed to bring Michigan electrical production to the 25 percent standard by 2025.
?We have to follow where the money is going and that is not spelled out in the constitutional amendment,? Eklund said. ?We are a representative democracy and our elected legislators need to work on these issues. This is a case of the Legislature being bypassed and that is not the best way to do public policy in Michigan.?
Is Constitution the right forum?
Putting the renewable energy standard in the state constitution ? Michigan would be the only state in the nation to have such a constitutional provision if Proposal 3 is adopted ? is necessary under the current political environment in Lansing, argued James Clift of the Michigan Environmental Council.
?The bottom line is that we don?t trust the Legislature,? Clift said of the constitutional amendment route selected by proponents. ?The Legislature is controlled by the utilities. This is a big concept that we want to lock in and have the details decided in legislation. We are convinced renewable energy development will not happen without this.?
Like others speaking against Proposal 3, DTE executive Nancy Moody ? a Muskegon native now working for the Detroit-based utility and spokeswoman for the CARE coalition ? said her company is not against renewable energy in pointing out DTE is the leading producer of renewable energy in Michigan. DTE makes money with renewable energy projects but a constitutional amendment locks in policies that might not provide the cheapest method of generating electricity in the future, she said.
Moody argued that the measured process used in 2008 to reach Michigan?s current energy law, including the state?s first renewable energy standard of 10 percent by 2015, is the way to address energy issues going forward.
?The legislative process is a lengthy one, but it should be,? Moody said. ?This is a constitutional amendment. Once you have the amendment, it is tough to go back to change the constitution. It is very inflexible.?
Speaking from the audience, state Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright, D-Muskegon, said she has introduced a 20 percent renewable energy standard by 2020 for state laws but her bill has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature.
?This is not going to happen if it is left to the Legislature,? Hovey-Wright said. ?The way to do this is by passing Proposal 3.?
Email: dalexan1@mlive.com
Facebook: Dave Alexander
Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/10/debate_over_proposal_3_not_abo.html
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