Monday October 27th - Planning Missouris Energy Future - Jefferson City Library (MRRL) - There wil be a presentation on Missouris Energy Future at the Missouri River Regional Library at 7:00 PM on Monday, October 27, 2014, upstairs in the Art Gallery, given by Mollie Freebairn, Democratic Candidate for State Senate, Jeffrey Owens, VP at Missouri Solar Applications, and Mike Grimes, President, Commercial Energy Consultants. We will each talk about 15 minutes plus Q & A/ discussion for people who only have an hour. We have the Art Gallery for 2 hours from 7 - 9 PM for people who can stay for further discussion. It will include an update on the seven Missouri Comprehensive Energy Planning Stakeholder meetings, held by the Missouri Division of Energy. All are taking place this month across the state. You may wish to attend some of these. Scroll down to see the meeting schedule, followed by the 60 steering committee members. energy.mo.gov/energy/about/comprehensive-state-energy-plan. Let me know if you are interested in attending and carpooling. There are worrisome indications that the Missouri Comprehensive Energy Planning process will produce an energy plan for Missouri, due in 2015, essentially written by and for Ameren, with a new nuclear power plant as its centerpiece. Nuclear is too expensive for private financing so the public would have to pick up the tab. The overriding danger, however, with uncontained nuclear waste such as that at the existing Callaway nuclear power plant, is if it were to be accidentally released to the environment. A terrorist attack or a Joplin-sized tornado could widely disperse highly radioactive nuclear waste, rendering the area within a 100 mile radius or more, uninhabitable. Republican legislators at the State Capitol have said that the Renewable Energy Standards Law passed by an overwhelming two-thirds of Missouri voters was the worst piece of legislation ever passed in our state, and should be overturned. This is essentially what Ameren, the legislature, and the PSC have proceeded to do, with no regard for the thousands of jobs created by the new solar industry. No effort was expended on the part of our legislature to break the fall of the solar industry in Missouri, since the PSC approved Amerens request to stop paying solar rebates at the end of 2013. Nor has the state made any move to open our doors to the Grain Belt Express, a golden opportunity for Missouri to access 500 MW of pollution-free wind power at half the cost of coal, creating hundreds of jobs, and millions of dollars in tax revenues for rural schools. According to the Stanford Solutions Project, a Plan to Power the World with Wind, Water, and the Sun, Missouris energy plan consists of 60 percent wind, 39 percent solar, and 1 percent hydroelectric. I am an energy and environmental scientist, working to help develop an energy plan for Missouri. I worked at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for eighteen years, followed by the last three years as a consultant for Missouri Solar Applications, working to launch the solar industry in Missouri. Previously I was a researcher at Washington University Medical School. While at DNR, I worked on environmental issues involving power generation, transportation, industry, agriculture, and commercial operations. I was on the Midwest Greenhouse Gas Registry, assisting the World Resources Institute (WRI) with the development of the Midwest Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory. I was project manager for the Grace Hill Clean Air St. Louis Diesel Emission Reduction Program which led to millions of dollars in funding to reduce diesel emissions in St. Louis. Currently I serve on the Board of Directors of Show Me Solar, a nonprofit educational organization. Jeffrey Owens is Vice President of Operations and Quality Assurance at Missouri Solar Applications, Mid-Missouris leading installer of solar systems. He has a masters degree in Mathematics from Florida State University, and a masters in Physics from Mizzou. Previously he was an instructor at the Renewable Energy Training Institute in St. Louis, and served in the U.S. Army in Iraq. He was the founder and first Executive Director at Show Me Solar, an educational organization that holds workshops and seminars on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Mike Grimes has 30 years experience in the financial industry as a Charter Retirement Placement Counselor. Five years ago, Mike discovered how energy regulation could save millions of dollars per year for residents and commercial businesses. Three years ago, Mike started Commercial Energy Consultants in the states of Texas, Georgia, and now Illinois. Since that time he has gained 800 customers with over 300 million kilowatts, therms under contract, and has over 150 energy reps. Missouri needs an energy plan that provides for our energy needs with energy resources within our own state. Currently we outsource most of our energy dollars - and jobs - to pay for coal from Wyoming. Missouri State government and academic institutions remain in lockstep with the investor-owned utilities to continue the use of coal-burning power plants to generate over 80 percent of the state’s electricity. Our system is broken, and Missouri remains one of the highest greenhouse gas emitting states, a major contributor to the increasing frequency and intensity of catastrophic climate changes we are seeing around the world. Missouri’s most abundant energy resources are solar, wind, geothermal, and energy efficiency, far more advanced energy technologies. As the single largest industry in the state, energy generation has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs, revitalizing our economy! The quality of life of Missouri’s citizens, the best interests of the economy, public health, environment, climate, and energy security, should be the guiding principles in our State Government. Missouri’s future quality of life will be largely determined by the choice of energy plan. I look forward to discussing these issues with you more at the library in Jefferson City next Monday! Mollie Freebairn Energy & Environmental Scientist Democratic Candidate for State Senate District Six Jefferson City, Missouri 65109 Office: 573-556-8653 Cell: 573-418-9349 For news & views visit Freebairn Campaign on Facebook Please contribute at: Freebairn for State Senate For more information see: Eyes On: Senate District Six Race
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:28:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015