Climate change report proposes $4.8 billion in programs
By Jason Clayworth, DesMoinesRegister.Com, January 2, 2009
Iowans would spend almost $4.8 billion over the next decade if lawmakers implemented all 56 environmental policy options recommended today by a 23-member governor appointed council.
At least one member of the council said enacting all options would raise utility rates and, possibly, set Iowa into an economic disadvantage if energy costs were higher than other states.
Others, however, said the proposals are necessary and could ultimately create thousands of jobs.
“This is a transition and there will be pain felt in this transition but if we don’t do it now, when are we going to do it?” asked Rich Leopold, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, whose staff worked closely with the Climate Change Advisory Council.
The ideas focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, transportation and agriculture. Some areas, such as energy efficiency, would save Iowa more than $1 billion between now and 2020, which offsets the total net costs. Other areas, such as producing renewable energy, would cost more than $5.9 billion, according to the 469-page report.
The report does not recommend the end of new coal-powered energy plants but the need for such plants would be greatly reduced by focusing more aggressively upon renewable fuels, members of the committee said today.
The committee, set up by the Legislature in 2007, will deliver its study to lawmakers today for consideration in the legislative session that begins Jan. 12.
Lawmakers will likely focus first on ideas that would save the state money, said Rep. Donovan Olson, D-Boone, chairman of the House Environmental Protection Committee.
“Iowa can do its part to slow, stop and reverse the buildup of carbon in our atmosphere and this report shows that,” Olson said.
The report gives two scenarios designed to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions between 50 and 90 percent by the year 2050, as compared with 2005 levels. The council did not set priorities for its recommendations and, in some cases, its members did not unanimously approve the ideas.
Cathy Woollums, the senior vice president of environmental services for MidAmerican Energy Holding Co., noted that the report sets out options, not mandates. Officials in her industry are watching the issue closely, she said.
“We do have some significant concerns about how much implementation of these options would increase the costs to customers,” Woollums said. “We already have a number of customers having difficulty paying for their bills today. When we contemplate rate increases to cover the costs of those types of programs, there is a very real concern there.”
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