Clean Energy Jobs

On Wednesday, November 2nd, fifty Sierra Club members took part in a Green Jobs Tour to view a business in northeast Kansas City that supplies parts for wind turbines, solar generators, and electric car plug-ins.  The plant, Milbank Manufacturing, expects to hire 57 new employees to support its expanded clean energy products.  Workers at Milbank are represented by the United Steelworkers Union (USW) Local 13. 

“Milbank Manufacturing proves the potential for renewable energy to create jobs in Missouri,” explains John Hickey, Sierra Club Chapter Director.  “It is time for the State of Missouri to expand our use of renewable energy.  We know that renewable energy means cleaner air and healthier communities.  Now we are showing that it also means good-paying, clean energy jobs.” 

Emil Ramirez, Assistant to the Director for USW District 11 continues “Our members understand that investing in clean energy technology means more good jobs right here in Kansas City.  That is why the USW, along with other groups including the Sierra Club, are part of the BlueGreen Alliance.  This tour provided a chance for more local citizens to see this potential with their own eyes.” 

Yesterday, 30 Sierra Club members toured the ABB factory in Jefferson City, MO, where the company makes transformers that are used in wind generators and solar collectors.

The goal of the tour was to see firsthand how renewable energy creates good, family-wage jobs locally and around Missouri.  ABB employs about 650 workers at its facilities in Jefferson City, MO.

The Sierra Club organized the tour in response to Missouri General Assembly actions to curtail development of renewable energy in the state.  This spring, the General Assembly overturned a Public Service Commission rule that would have required utilities like Ameren to meet its 15 percent renewable energy standard (mandated under Proposition C, passed in November 2008) by counting electricity that was either generated or consumed here in Missouri.  By nullifying this rule, the General Assembly is allowing utilities to buy renewable energy credits from anywhere in the world in order to meet its renewable energy targets.  When the wind generators are located in China instead of here, Missourians do not enjoy the benefits of clean energy – including both local jobs as well as cleaner air.

This ABB plant manufactured the transformers that were installed in the Lost Creek Wind Farm, located near King City, Missouri.  Lost Creek is the largest wind farm in Missouri, and utilizes one hundred transformers that were made by ABB.

The Internets remember a time when former Governor Matt Blunt and Lt. Governor Peter Kinder had nothing but nice things to say about Wind Capital Group's projects in Northwest Missouri.  From the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives' Rural Missouri magazine in 2006:

Carnahan’s Wind Capital Group joined representatives of Missouri’s electric cooperatives, John Deere Wind Energy, the Department of Natural Resources and various statewide elected officials in announcing the ambitious project in a ceremony at the state Capitol on Jan. 31.

“Wind projects fit in well with our desire to develop fuel sources here in Missouri that are good for the environment and can help spur economic growth,” says Gov. Matt Blunt, who welcomed leaders of the project to his office. “This is truly a win-win situation.”

Added Lt. Gov Peter Kinder, “Wind, like ethanol and biodiesel, can be homegrown energy. These renewable and cleaner forms of energy can keep our air and water cleaner now and for the future.”

...Already the players in this project are talking about a second wind farm. Wind farms once considered marginal for Missouri are now becoming a reality thanks to a variety of factors: tax incentives from the recently passed national energy bill, the new wind maps from DNR, improved technology and, most importantly, a ready source of financing from John Deere Wind Energy.

As summarized by the Post-Dispatch's Bill Lambrecht:

[League of Conservation Voters Action Fund's Tony Massaro] said his group's survey turned up a bit of a surprise: A plurality of voters endorsing climate change legislation in Congress.

Here's how the question was asked, followed by the results:

Here are some laws passed in at least one House of Congress in the past two years. Please tell me whether you approve or disapprove of each one:

The plan to encourage clean energy production known as cap-and-trade.

Approve: 45 percent. Disapprove 40 percent.

With voters mostly concerned most about the economy, Massaro said, a primary mission is persuading Missourians of the economic benefits of green technology  -- and in so doing influencing how they vote.

General Steven Anderson (Ret.) stars in VoteVets' latest teevee ad calling for clean energy legislation in the U.S. Senate.

Mike Carey, president of the American Council for Affordable and Reliable Energy, was on KMOX's Hancock & Kelleyshow last week to talk about new billboards his organization is financing in the St. Louis area.  The American Council for Affordable and Reliable Energy is a Washington, D.C.-based group financed by coal companies created to protect companies' ability to pollute at their current unsustainable levels.

In the interview, Carey was unable to provide the name of a single funder or supporter unconnected to the coal industry, and struggled to explain why his organization was not running similar ads in any other areas of the country. And just in case you thought the ads weren't political in nature, Carey admitted on air that his organization has only tried to purchase ads in one other Congressional district in the country: Arkansas's Second.  But when Democratic Congressman Vic Snyder announced that his retirement in January, Carey and ACARE lost interest.

Carey was last seen in St. Louis at the November 2009 "Tea Party" as a keynote speaker, along with the recently-arrested James O’Keefe.  The St. Louis Tea Party wrote at the time that Carey created his organization last year "when he saw that misinformation and lies were beginning to shape the political landscape on coal and global warming." Before serving as president of the ACARE, Carey was president of the Ohio Coal Association.

Thanks to the stimulus bill championed by President Obama, the state of Missouri has millions of dollars available to complete home weatherization projects for low and moderate income homeowners. The program provides three distinct benefits: jobs for construction workers, lower utility bills for homeowners, and cleaner air for everybody.

On this episode of Laborvision, host John Hickey discusses the impact of home weatherization projects with Ron Tierney of the Carpenters Union apprenticeship program, Jim Buford, CEO of the Urban League of St. Louis, and Karen Massey of the Department of Natural Resources and the statewide coordinator for the home weatherization program.

The cable TV schedule for the show is:
St Louis City - Charter Channel 21:  Mon @ 8pm - March 1 & 8
Weds @ 730pm - March 3 & 10
Thurs@ 7pm - March 4 & 11
Sat @ 330pm - March 6 & 13

St. Louis City & St. Louis, St Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin Counties - Charter Ch 8 (or Ch 98):  Mon @ 430pm - March 1 & 8

Via Show Me Progress, the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Climate Protection Action Fund have a cool new ad campaign featuring video messages submitted by Missourians calling for meaningful clean energy and green jobs legislation.   Here's one of several ads:

University of Missouri students, faculty and alumni joined together in Columbia this afternoon to rally for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation outside of UM System President Gary Forsee’s University Hall office. A few photos:

A new cartoon from John Darkow, posted yesterday at ColumbiaTribune.com. 

A coalition of student groups -- including Coal Free Mizzou (Beyond Coal), Greeks Going Green and the College Dems -- is joining together with faculty at 1pm tomorrow to rally for comprehensive clean energy legislation outside Gary Forsee's office at University Hall. 

More information about the event is on Facebook here. 

Following up on my post from Sunday, Janese Heavin has a story today for the Daily Tribune outlining UM System President Gary Forsee's various stock holdings and ties to corporations.  Essentially, Forsee's response to questions about his financial interest in Great Plains Energy -- an energy holding company that is actively opposing federal climate legislation --  is that he'll still be rich no matter what happens.  I don't doubt that a bit, but this quote from his official spokesman has me scratching my head:

Forsee serves on the board of Great Plains Energy, the holding company of Kansas City Power & Light, which opposes the bill that would limit greenhouse gas emissions. That’s not a conflict of interest, Hollingshead said, because board members do not lobby on legislative matters.

Why does it matter if Forsee lobbies while wearing his Great Plains hat?  The point is that he's using his official position to advance a position that would benefit Great Plains stockholders and boardmembers, like himself.  And the larger point is that his public advocacy against the legislation contradicts his previous commitments regarding clean energy, and is effectively a call to maintain the status quo.  

The Tribune: 

Faculty members were taken by surprise when they read in the Tribune that [University of Missouri System President Gary] Forsee sent a letter opposing the bill, said Dan Hooley, a professor of classical studies and chairman of MU’s Environmental Affairs and Sustainability Committee.

“He seems to be speaking unilaterally but did not consult with faculty members or the community and with no explanation of his process of thinking,” Hooley said. “It seems to me he does have every right to speak for himself, but he simply can’t speak for the community. That’s not how this campus operates.”

Jason Rosenbaum has a very interesting nugget in the Columbia Business Times blog today about UM System president Gary Forsee's decision to oppose federal climate legislation:

University of Missouri system president Gary Forsee’s letter opposing federal legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions is still attracting attention several weeks after it was released to the media.

Paul Sloca, the spokesman for U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, circulated Forsee’s letter to media outlets earlier this month. The letter came out against “Cap and Trade” legislation, which in a nutshell would cap the amount of carbon emissions an entity could produce. If that company or service wants to go over that amount, they would have to buy credits from entities that produce less pollution.

As noted Tuesday, University of Missouri System President Gary Forsee is publicly opposing the comprehensive energy legislation being debated in Congress despite his previous promises to be leader in new technologies, clean energy, and responsible environmental policies. 

In addition to questions about why he's chosen to stand down from his commitments and stand up for the status quo, Forsee also has a few questions to answer about potential personal conflicts of interest.

When Forsee isn't serving as President of the University of Missouri system or thinking about how to spent some portion of his enormous Sprint Nextel severance package, he also sits on the the Board of Directors for Great Plains Energy Incorporated, the holding company of Kansas City Power & Light and KCP&L Greater Missouri Operations Company. 

KCP&L, as you may know, is actively opposing the Congressional climate legislation, saying it would force them to reduce their emissions too quickly and might force them to "retire some portion of our coal-fired fleet."

Rush Limbaugh says he's made "a really gutsy and courageous move."

For more on Gary Forsee's surprising and disappointing change of heart on federal climate legislation, check out this rundown at Show Me Progress and the previous Fired Up! coverage. 

Happy to spar with Roy Blunt about their "Stain" ad, the League of Conservation Voters launched a new radio ad today titled "Forgot." Listen:

With the new spot, the LCV also breaks down Blunt's opposition to meaningful climate legislation in Congress: 

Contrary to Rep. Blunt’s claims, the American Clean Energy & Security Act, which the congressman voted against when it passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, would help create nearly 36,000 clean energy jobs in Missouri. [2] The legislation would also reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and place limits on harmful carbon pollution. (Rep. Blunt also voted against in the American Clean Energy & Security Act when it passed out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.)

Speaking with KSPR and KY3 last week week, Roy Blunt expressed grave concern with a recent ad from the League of Conservation Voters criticizing his ties to big oil and energy interests and opposition to the clean energy legislation before Congress this year. In both interviews, Blunt suggested that the issue ads circumvented campaign finance laws that limit total donations to a candidate campaign.  On KSPR, he said:

The money you can spend on ads like this are unlimited, so it's an interesting way to kind of get around the campaign finance law...

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Repower America began a new ad on national cable yesterday to highlight the national security concerns of veterans and national security leaders about destabilizing climate change.

The ad features Iraq War veterans alongside General Brent Scowcroft and General Wesley Clark.