Mark Green touts energy plan
A story by Jason Allen on WBAY-TV covered an energy accouncement by gunernatorial candidate Mark Green:
At the Solar Mining Company in Green Bay, Congressman Mark Green unveiled his plan Wednesday to make your power bill smaller if he wins the race for governor.
Inside the country’s largest manufacturer of solar hot water systems, the Republican gubernatorial candidate said it’s only through the advancement of similar renewable energy technology that home energy costs will come down.
“None of us knows which of the technologies is going to provide the greatest breakthroughs. We’ve got to pursue them all,” Green said.
His plan is to encourage more use of alternative energy through a series of tax exemptions and credits.
Buying an energy-efficient heating or air-conditioning system, or buying equipment to generate solar or wind power would be exempt from state tax. People or companies that generate energy from wind, sun, or waste, and companies that do farm-based research into alternative energy would also be eligible for tax credits.
“Am I going to tell you that these proposals will in the next 24 hours reverse the flow of our habits over the years? No. But I think we all recognize that meeting our energy challenges is a long-term challenge, and I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Green.
If his plan results in more alternative energy use, like solar energy, Green says his proposal should also take stress off the current energy system, eventually leading to lower costs for everyone.
In response, Governor Doyle points out his own energy initiatives. Coincidentally, he signed the state’s renewable energy bill into law at the same Green Bay company earlier this year. It mandates ten percent of Wisconsin’s electricity must come from renewable resources by 2015.
Last month he launched the effort to make some U.W. campuses self-sufficient for all their energy needs by 2012.
“This is an enormous opportunity to Wisconsin. I have put us on course to invest in renewable energy and energy conservation, and to that end we’re doing very exciting things. And one of them is to have four campuses in the system, which include UWGB and also includes Oshkosh… to have them come off the electricity grid in the next five years.”
