Earth Day April 2008

Illinois can be center of a growing green economy

Springfield State Journal Register

April 22 , 2008

Opinion Editorial by Howard Learner

Illinois is well-positioned to be a center of the rapidly growing green economy if we seize the strategic opportunities. That requires savvy policy actions and business development strategies now before other states leap far ahead. What's at stake: the jobs of the future as the global economy transitions to cleaner and greener technologies.

Solving global warming problems is the challenge of our generation. The leading presidential candidates and Congress are moving toward realigning our nation with the developed world toward achieving rapid, enormous reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. Cleaning up the energy and transportation sectors is the necessaty solution in a "carbon capped" economy.

• Making our homes, businesses and public buildings more energy efficient is a no-brainer. It's a win-win-win for jobs, economic vitality and environmental protection. Retrofitting buildings with more efficient lighting, heating and cooling, windows and other equipment willcreate new electrical, plumbing, carpentry and other construction jobs that pay good wages.

Energy efficiency holds down utility bills and thus helps both businesses' bottom lines and household budgets. It stems the billion-dollar energy drain from Dlinois' economy to states and foreign countries that produce natural gas. Reducing energy demand through efficiency is the best, fastest and cheapest way to avoid global wanning pollution.

The pending energy efficiency building code legislation is a vital solution. Illinois is the largest energy-using state without a residential energy efficiency code. It's time to move forward.

Green business winners include energy efficiency technical consulting firms such as Johnson Controls, Shaw Group and Sieben Energy Associates, and skilled union trade workers. This green business sector can grow Illinois' economy as it reduces pollution and achieves energy bill savings that increase our competitiveness.

• Wind power is the nation's fastest growing energy resource, and Illinois has the second most wind power under development of any state right now—6,000 megawatts. The North American headquarters of Invenergy, LM Glasfiber, Midwest Wmd Energy, Suzlon, as well as John Deere's wind business, are here. The venture capital community and the new Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund are looking for clean technology opportunities.

But this won't come easy. It requires supportive policies and public-private leadership to keep building, nurturing and attracting these green businesses. In 2007, Illinois enacted strong renewable energy standards, requiring utilities to ramp up purchasing renewable energy resources to 25 percent of their supply by 2025. Let's implement this and close the loophole that leaves out "alternative retail electricity suppliers" such as Constellation New Energy and Direct Energy.

Illinois is missing out on manufacturing jobs. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity did a good job of bringing Trinity Structural Towers to Clinton. However, Iowa and Minnesota have attracted seven major wind power equipment manufacturing plants providing good-paying jobs for skilled workers. Toledo, Ohio, has historically been a glass-producing center for the auto industIy. Some ofthat expertise and capacity is now being refocused to produce glass for sophisticated solar photovoltaic panels, while other Ohio manufacturers produce ball bearings and mechanical parts for the wind industry.

• The American auto industry is undergoing wrenching changes with rising gas prices and global warming pollution reduction needs. Ford Motor Co. recently announced production cuts at its Chicago plant due to slumping sales. Ford Taurus sales dropped 19 percent and Taurus X sales dropped 28.1 percent last year. Ford's cutbacks follow Chrysler's recent cutbacks at its Belvidere plant.

lllinois is caught in the "death spiral" of the old-tech auto industry. If we keep hitching our economic wagon only to the low-mpg and higher polluting cars of the past, we'll lose more jobs and hurt our economy. California and 12 other states have adopted "clean car standards," requiring technology-forcing 35-50 percent reductions in carbon dioxide pollution over the next decade. The General Assembly should enact similar legislation connecting Illinois to the job and economic growth opportunities with the clean cars of the future. This transition is painful, but vital for our local economic future.

• Finally, Chicago is the natural hub of a Midwest high-speed rail network connecting the 11 major cities within a 400-mile radius and the mid-sized cities, like Springfield, in between. Modem, fast, comfortable and convenient trains can work for the Midwest, as Metroliner and Acela do on the East Coast. Midwest high-speed rail development is good for bringing together our regional economy, good for job creation, and good for the environment by reducing pollution and counteracting sprawl.

Let's seize the strategic opportunities and lllinois' competitive advantages to be a center of the growing green economy of the future.