Alternative energy meeting in Ann Arbor
Before Governor Granholm ran back to Lansing to take care of the service tax issue, she spent the Friday at the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, meeting with business leaders, U of M professors, and Margo Oge, director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
Doesn’t this next idea sound like it would be a perfect fit for Michigan? Right in Ann Arbor, perhaps?
Granholm also made a pitch for federal funding to support the development of a national center in Michigan to study and promote alternative energy — including everything from wind energy to batteries.
“We want (Michigan) to be the place where jobs are created in this sector,” Granholm said. “We can lead the nation in reducing our dependency on foreign oil.”
Why? Because we have it all- the natural resources, the workforce, the researchers and the universities that can make it happen. Let’s hope that the federal government will take us up on that!
Meanwhile, we have companies right here, right now, that are already making the switch from the automotive industry to the wind turbine industry- and they are looking to hire.
Ray Mackowsky of Great Lakes Gear Technologies Inc. of Canton Township told the group his company has gone from making gears mostly for the automotive industry to now making gears primarily for wind turbines.
Mackowsky said the state should solicit partnerships with wind turbine makers, offer tax incentives, encourage the construction of wind farms and mandate more use of renewable energy.
Also in attendance was Ann Arbor Machine Co.-
But prototype gear specialist director Robert Turke said the company will begin manufacturing big gear boxes for wind turbines over the next 18 months. He expects the move will mean adding at least 60 people to the company’s current base of 150 employees.
Seems every company that we have mentioned so far in these meetings is looking at hiring more workers, proving the growth in this industry is going to be phenomenal in the coming years.
Want more proof? Another study released yesterday, this one by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, shows that Michigan could create up to 10,000 new jobs by enacting public policy for renewables and energy efficient programs.
The report, authored by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), is a boost for proposals currently under consideration by the Michigan Legislature that would establish efficiency programs and require renewable power.
If the appropriate legislation is adopted, Michigan will see a net employment increase of between 3,900 and 10,000 jobs by 2023 because higher levels of energy efficiency investment by utilities produce greater job growth. That would be the equivalent of adding 25 to 75 small manufacturing plants to the state, according to the report. Furthermore, businesses and households would save more than $2.6 billion on energy bills because a number of expensive new power plants would be avoided.
Monday, Governor Granholm will be in the UP at NewPage – so, stayed tuned for further updates from the road!
