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Kreitlow: Wisconsin Leading the Way in New Fuels

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

With all the recent news coverage on health care reform and the economy, less attention is being paid to other issues that also affect our lives but still require attention from our state and federal leaders. Energy policy was a hot topic when gas prices went north of $4.00 a gallon, but relatively lower prices today should not make us lose focus on how to prevent the energy crises of tomorrow. We are still shipping an obscene amount of our money to countries that donＵ like us very much and have the power to deal our economy another serious blow. Fortunately, a lot of good things are happening behind the scenes especially here in Wisconsin as we look to create a new generation of domestic fuels.

Over the past year, Representative Scott Suder and I co-chaired a special legislative study committee to assess the current state of the bio-fuels industry and its potential for the future. The committee, which was made up of industry leaders, agriculture and environmental experts and a bi-partisan group of legislators, came up with a list of recommendations that was recently introduced as Senate Bill 279. It is a package of proposals that organizes WisconsinＴ role in the bio-fuels industry in order to maximize job creation, foster energy independence and build our stateＴ rural economy. It shouldn't be a surprise that our rich heritage in agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and scientific research puts Wisconsin at the leading edge of this emerging industry and the jobs that will be created in all of these fields.

The bill recognizes that ethanol made from corn kernels is not going be our primary bio-fuel in the long run. Instead, our fuels are going to come from other sources that might include wood pulp, switchgrass, canola or more of the corn plant, as well as chemical treatments to other plant and fiber stocks. We need to encourage the research and development that will allow those breakthroughs to be made in Wisconsin. We need to better coordinate the state agencies that play a role in tax credits and regulations. We can be a clearinghouse of information so that farmers and timber harvesters engage in best practices to maximize crop value and minimize environmental effects. We can identify and reduce regulatory barriers to building the bio-fuel refineries that will create jobs and increase our local tax bases in the future. And we can help make sure our schools of higher education identify new job trends and make adjustments that help train the future workforce.

Given the state's difficult fiscal situation, these recommendations are done without looking for new state funds but re-allocating existing resources. Tax credit eligibility will be expanded to new types of fuels and equipment without expanding total dollars. And for individual farmers and others who create their own bio-diesel for non-road use there will be a limited exemption from the gas tax.

Wisconsin is already positioning itself to be a leader in this emerging industry. Chippewa Valley Technical College is making plans to offer bio-fuels related courses and certificates at the request of local business leaders and numerous small and large businesses are moving toward biomass focused energy plans. The legislative council plan will help keep the momentum behind these positive developments in our state's energy policy moving forward, and get us back to focusing on an issue that is critical to our state's economic future.