MOUNT VERNON — Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced Wednesday the release of a new report which touts the possibilities for development of advanced and renewable energy industries in Ohio. The report, “Ohio’s Road to Energy Independence,” was issued by the Blue-Green Action Alliance, a public policy partnership between the Sierra Club and the United Steel Workers of America.
Brown introduced the report in a conference call held in tandem with Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, D-Cleveland, and several industrial representatives. The report calls for the passage of renewable energy standards on the state and national levels, as well as the updating of tax laws to promote long-term research, development and investment in emerging energy industries in Ohio.
“The report really explodes the myth that the environment and job creation are at odds with each other,” Brown said. He said that a major economic shift is beginning, and that Ohio is in a position to lead the way, especially if a common-sense approach is taken to developing it.
“We are exactly in the right place to move forward,” Brown said, pointing out Ohio’s pool of skilled workers, highly developed infrastructures of highway and rail, institutional knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit. Existing renewable technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and solar cells will need expanded manufacturing bases in the near future, as will currently emerging technologies.
David Foster, executive director of the Blue-Green Alliance, drew attention to the emergent field of biomass energy production, which uses dried plant remnants or gas from animal waste as fuel for steam to run energy turbines. He cited the example of a plant in downtown St. Paul, Minn., that generates steam and electricity for the city.
“It uses wood waste from the greater metropolitan area park department as its primary source of fuel,” Foster said, adding that it used agricultural waste from farms around the Twin City area as its secondary fuel source. With Ohio’s agricultural industries and extensive park systems, the state has the resources on hand for that sort of operation.
The report, based on a study prepared by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., think tank, states that firms in Ohio could benefit from 29,922 new jobs, including 13,215 from wind turbine manufacturing and 5,957 jobs in solar manufacturing.
“Ohio needs jobs, jobs, jobs,” said Tubbs-Jones. She said she and Brown want to find ways to put their constituents back to work, but they want that to happen with jobs that will help America renew energy and reduce its reliance on foreign oil.
Brown said the way to put Ohio at the cusp of energy development is to pass standards for renewable energy on the state and federal levels, including interim goals to reach the often-discussed “25 percent by 2025” quotient of advanced fuel usage that has been proposed in Washington. Brown added that an additional step which needs to be taken is to extend research/development and investment tax credits from one-to-three years to eight-to-10 years in order to promote long-term growth. According to Brown, this greater predictability of the tax system would be attractive to researchers and manufacturers who are leery about investing in the state at this point, because the tax credits could soon change.
