Advocates say budget provisions distort energy bill
Ohio's
solar and wind supporters and companies intend to ask Gov. Ted Strickland to
veto provisions of the state budget bill that would permit trash burning and
tire burning to be called ''renewable energy.''
That
request will be filed with Strickland, if the legislature approves such broad
definitions of renewable energy, said Terrence O'Donnell of Ohio Advanced
Energy, a Columbus-based trade association of Ohio wind-solar interests.
The
problem is that wind-solar firms have been interested in developing projects in
Ohio, but now the state is sending out ''mixed signals,'' he said.
Last
year, state lawmakers passed an energy bill that requires 12.5 percent of
electricity sold in the state to come from renewable sources by 2025 and
another 12.5 percent to come from so-called ''advanced'' energy sources, such
as clean coal and nuclear power.
But
what Ohio considers renewable energy appears to be changing in the budget bill,
and that's troubling, O'Donnell said.
Burning
wastes from paper mills and coal methane gas, along with tires and trash,
should not be considered in the same light as wind and solar projects, he said.
Ohio
appears set on adopting a broader definition of renewable energy, and that
would make the state less attractive to wind and solar interests, O'Donnell
said during a teleconference Tuesday presented by Environment Ohio. Such
changes would be ''inappropriate,'' he said.
It
appears that Ohio is backsliding on its commitment to renewable energy, he
said.
Wind
and solar companies ''are at risk if the legislature continues to chip away at
Ohio's renewable energy law,'' he said.
Environment
Ohio said it hopes the joint House-Senate committee ''will remove the
dirty-energy amendments and focus on the clean-energy opportunities that will
create jobs and reduce pollution,'' said spokeswoman Jennifer Herron.
Ohioans
will pay more in the future if fossil fuels, like gasoline and coal, remain the
major sources of energy, Environment Ohio said in a new report.
In
2006, Ohioans spent $2,898 per capita on fossil fuels. That figure is expected
to climb to between $3,522 and $4,576 per person by 2030.
Ohio
needs to do more to develop clean energy from the wind and sun and to promote
energy efficiency, Herron's group said.
