Iowa Global Warming

Lynda Waddington via the  Iowa Independent

The nation’s largest public power company will soon be powering homes and businesses across a seven state area with Iowa wind energy.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal corporation, entered into a 20-year contract with Texas-based Horizon Wind Energy LLC last week. The company will purchase up to 115 megawatts of renewable energy from the Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm, located in Howard and Mitchell counties in northeastern Iowa.

Generation is expected to begin this fall, subject to applicable environmental requirements and firm transmission arrangements being secured. The contracts are a result of a request for proposals TVA issued in December 2008.

Horizon, owned by EDP Renováveis S.A., operates more than 20 wind farms across the U.S. that produce more than 2,800 megawatts of power. The company operates three wind farms in Iowa.

TVA provides electricity for utility and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia — an area of 80,000 square miles with a population of 9 million. The company makes no profits and receives no taxpayer money. It is funded by sales of electricity to its customers, and electricity prices in TVA’s service territory are below the national average.

Benjamin Julian, Environmental Law & Policy Center’s Iowa intern; wrote a letter to the editor for the “Des Moines Register” published in the Sunday Feb. 7 “opinion” page.

A New York Times Jan. 31 article, “China Leading Global Race to Make Clean Energy,” discussed how China is getting ahead of the curve when it comes to clean-energy production.

Though many would find this ridiculous – due to China’s history of environmental degradation and frenzied industrial development – the consequences are very real.

Now, more than ever, green jobs are moving overseas due to a concerted effort to stall clean-energy development in the United States.

In no way are President Barack Obama’s plans for clean energy perfect, but the United States is falling dangerously behind on creating a favorable market for renewable energy.

The ideological battle between Republicans and Democrats in Washington has severely hampered the nation’s ability to produce the next generation of infrastructure and energy. Instead, we have instances of Chinese companies contracting out to wind farm operations in Texas.

Of Iowa’s five major wind-turbine manufacturers, two are from Europe. When will America catch up when it comes to renewable energy?

Group seeks ban on burning trash in Iowa cities, towns

by O. Kay Henderson on January 19, 2010

The Iowa Environmental Council is pushing for a ban that would forbid burning trash within the city limits of any Iowa town or city.  The group lobbied state legislators to enact the ban last year, but it failed to pass.

“We’re hoping to get similar legislation introduced this year with maybe some better definitions of what constitutes trash and figure out how we can phase that in over a period of time, based on the size of the municipality,” says Iowa Environmental Council executive director Marian Riggs Gelb. 

According to Gelb, more than a third of Iowa cities and towns still allow residents to burn trash within the city limits.  Gelb says air quality has become a concern in some areas, with state officials issuing warnings to Iowans who have health problems to avoid outdoor activities because “fine particulate matter” in the air has exceeded federal standards. The Iowa Environmental Council argues a ban on trash burning in Iowa cities could improve air quality.

“It’s one way to try to address what is becoming a bigger and bigger issue in Iowa,” Gelb says.  “So we’re looking at trying to do what we can within the constraints available to us.” 

Today is the Iowa Environmental Council’s “lobby day” at the statehouse.  The group and its affiliates have set up tables in the rotunda of the capitol and council members are meeting individually with legislators to discuss the group’s priorities.  The Iowa Environmental Council is made up of 54 different organizations, ranging from church groups to the Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Full article here

The climate talks in Denmark produced serious talk among top carbon emitters about doing something, but little action that will directly affect Iowa, observers here say.

What happens next could affect everything from Iowa weather to how much the state’s residents pay for electricity.

Iowans who watched the Copenhagen Accord take shape from the ground in Denmark found important symbolism in President Barack Obama’s steps to move the United States into the middle of the discussions. They also point to real meat in an agreement of nations to spend $100 billion a year by 2020 for aid to poor countries and to countries facing the biggest climate-related effects.

But the agreement contained no hard targets for reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gases or specific emissions-reducing measures.

“It’s a beginning,” said Andrew Snow of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, a nonprofit group. “It’s a very positive thing considering ourselves and others were worried they wouldn’t reach a deal at all.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Ten central Iowa cities are applying for up to $25 million in federal grant money to create jobs and bring more energy efficiency to homes, businesses and government buildings.

The money would supplement federal programs like Energy Star and contribute to efforts to curb climate change.

“Our region has an opportunity to be part of a program that would bring energy-efficiency improvements to thousands of local homeowners and businesses,” said John Konior, assistant city manager in Urbandale. He is overseeing the grant application.

“This would provide for major revitalization of neighborhoods and businesses; create new energy service, home improvement, construction and related service jobs; and provide a model that could be continued after the 36-month grant period.”

The cities involved are Altoona, Ankeny, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Johnston, Urbandale, Waukee, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights.

The grant is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy under the economic stimulus passed early this year. Konior said the cities should hear back in late February or early March.

Local schools and colleges would train contractors, and private lenders would provide additional financing. Retrofitting homes can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent, according to a report from the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

President Barack Obama told business and labor leaders at a jobs summit last week that he strongly supports job-creation efforts that would bring more energy efficiency to homes and buildings. Obama said incentives like those used for “cash for clunkers” – the program intended to help people purchase more-fuel-efficient cars – could “get contractors working again and generate more private activity.”

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie attended the jobs summit. He urged Obama to make more direct federal funding available to metropolitan areas and encourage private lending to add environmentally friendly, or “green,” jobs.

“We need to create value in our cities and programs geared toward energy efficiency to instill that value. It saves energy, it saves the environment, it improves public health and it creates new jobs,” he said. “We also need to sell the benefit and show the benefit to the private sector so there’s long-term, lasting benefit.”

Global leaders have gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the two-week U.N. Climate Change Conference, which began Monday. The White House announced last month that Obama plans to offer to cut U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

Konior and other metro-area leaders say efforts to limit global warming need to happen at the local level.

“Wind farms are great, but the bigger payoff is energy efficiency,” said David Osterberg, director of the Iowa Policy Project, a nonprofit founded in 2001 that produces research on the Iowa economy and energy and environmental policy “Every bit of this will be lasting, because 36 months down the road your energy bill will still be lower and MidAmerican will still be using less coal. And with 10 cities participating, that will have a significant impact that can be measured. This is the smart part of the stimulus program. It provides jobs that moves us to a different kind of country.”

Full story Here

The Iowa Utilities Board has opened an inquiry into the federal climate change bill.

Critics say it will significantly boost electricity costs.

Supporters say it will curb global warming and only have a moderate impact on household budgets.

In a notice of inquiry Thursday, the board said it has had discussions with utilities, the state’s consumer advocate office and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, among others.

“It appears that Iowa utilities generally support the concept of a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions. However, they have a number of concerns with how allowances are allocated in the bill,” the notice says.

Allowances, essentially permits to emit carbon, are at the center of a trading market the legislation creates.

The House approved the bill last month on a 219-212 vote.

Rob Hillesland, a spokesman for the board, said an inquiry into a congressional proposal “is not typical.” But he said the idea is “to learn as much as possible, to gather information and know what the impacts might be in Iowa.”

Read the rest of the QC Times story here.

Iowa environmental policymakers say a little-known state law prohibits them from enacting stricter air quality requirements than those passed by the federal government.

Several current and former members of the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, which sets state environmental policy, say the state would have trouble limiting mercury and other toxic chemical emissions without fretting about legal challenges because of the law.

As a result, Iowa cannot easily follow the lead of several neighboring states, including Wisconsin and Illinois, which have passed laws calling for dramatic reductions in mercury and other toxic emissions in the coming years.

“It’s almost like, why even go through the commission?” EPC Commissioner Susan Heathcote said. “This is almost a waste of our time … when we don’t have the authority as a state to do anything but what the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) requires.”

Read the rest of the article here.

As a nation, we have the choice of a variety of energy futures. For example, there is a future where we essentially do nothing and continue to rely on fossil fuels. Or there is a future where we transition and rely instead on clean energy.

We can put some basic prices on getting to those future scenarios, realizing that no scenario comes free. By doing some comparison shopping, it is clear that the best bargain in town is a clean-energy future, where we use resources such as wind, solar and energy efficiency and avoid the worst effects and costs of climate change. But this bargain is not available forever. We need to put the right energy and climate policies in place now to take advantage of it.

Moving to this clean-energy economy will require significant investments. These include an infrastructure of new technology, such as wind turbines, solar panels, new or retrofitted green buildings and passenger rail, as well as research, training and education. But these investments will generate real benefits, including new jobs, and avoid substantial costs associated with unabated climate change.

Please read the rest of the article here.

Washington, D.C. – Americans could get at least 10 percent of their power from wind and other renewable sources by 2020, but the industry will need better transmission and consistent government support, researchers say.

By 2035, it’s reasonable to estimate that 20 percent or more of the nation’s electrical supply could be renewable, according to a study issued Monday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Non-hydropower renewables accounted for 3.4 percent of U.S. electricity in 2008, up from 2.5 percent the year before, the study said.

The study’s conclusions echoed findings by earlier reports on the prospects for and barriers to renewable energy, including a study issued last year by the Energy Department on prospects for wind energy.

A major impediment to development of renewable energy, the studies agree, is the lack of transmission lines to carry power from the areas such as Iowa, where the wind power is available, to the urban centers where the electricity is needed.

Check out the rest of the story here.

Each year, the University of Iowa’s International Programs hosts teachers from around the state for a program focused on what Iowans need to know about the rest of the world.

This year, the topic is global climate change and its political implications, said Buffy Quintero, International Programs Outreach Coordinator, who is helping organize this year’s event.

“The purpose is to give teachers the most current and up-to-date information on global climate change and to share our expertise,” Quintero said. “It is one of the most critical issues facing the next generation and our generation.”

More than 20 teachers from around Iowa will attend UI’s International Programs Summer Institute for Teachers. The program runs from Monday through the week.

The programming is primarily for the teachers attending the institute, but two lectures will be open to anyone.

Read the rest of the article here.