Salazar, panel discuss new energy economy

FORT COLLINS – U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, joined by Gov. Bill Ritter and other state and federal officials, told an invitation-only crowd of about 350 at Fossil Ridge High School on Thursday that the Obama administration is looking to “jump start” a clean energy economy with new legislation later this year.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a comprehensive clean-energy bill approved by the U.S. House in June, is set for debate in the Senate this fall. President Barack Obama and Democrats are hoping to pass the bill they say will help reduce dependence on foreign oil, reduce global warming and create green-energy jobs.

Salazar was joined on the panel by Colorado Congresswoman Betsy Markey; Nancy Sutley, chair of Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality; Jay Manning, director of Washington state’s Department of Ecology; Mike Chrisman, director of California’s Department of Natural Resources; and Ritter, who has promoted a New Energy Economy in Colorado since taking office in 2006.

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Ritter’s New Energy Economy has focused on the development of solar and wind power along with encouragement for alternative fuel research and the adoption of higher renewal energy standards for utilities.

Ritter noted that Colorado has quadrupled its wind energy on the grid since he took office. He added that the state is blessed by having the National Renewable Energy Laboratory located in Golden along with research-oriented higher education institutions like Colorado State University.

Salazar said the new energy legislation would have a strong emphasis on renewable energy standards for utilities and noted that Colorado, with a 20 percent RES by 2020 and California, with a 30 percent RES by 2020, are leading the way.

“We want to get as robust a standard as possible,” he said. “I think we can make believers out of cynics about what we are doing.”

Markey, who represents Colorado’s Fourth District that includes Larimer and Weld counties, said the legislation will also offer incentives for farmers who devote part of their land to carbon sequestration and provide sites for wind turbines.

“I believe this bill will help keep our agricultural sector very vibrant and accomplish our energy goals as well,” she said.

The panelists responded to a variety of questions from local officials, state Public Utilities Commissioners, alternative energy activists and students from Fossil Ridge and other area high schools. Ritter said it was important that students were part of the new energy conversation.

“It is a cultural shift that’s taking place,” he said. “It’s what you talk about with your peer group and really, at the end of the day, in what you consume. And it’s your generation that’s going to drive that conversation.”

The Fort Collins energy forum was the first of several the Obama administration will hold to gather public comments before the Senate takes up the new energy legislation, Salazar said.

Other discussions on the topic are also planned. On Tuesday, Sept. 1, Colorado Solar Energy Industries is hosting a forum on the clean energy bill and the impacts of federal energy standards on Colorado’s clean tech sector. The discussion, which will feature speakers from Vestas Americas A/S; Abound Solar; Horizon Wind Energy; Bella Energy; E*On Climate and Renewables; and E2 Environmental Entrepreneurs. Markey and U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet have also been invited to attend the event, which begins at 10:30 a.m. in the Cherokee Room of the Lory Student Center on the CSU campus.

For more information, contact Beth Hart at 303-333-7342.