Gov. Branstad should embrace clean power plan

After spending nearly a decade in the military, I began looking for a new way to earn a living while still moving our country toward a brighter, more secure future. I found it right here in Iowa, in the solar business.

My company, Ideal Energy, is one of many solar and energy-efficiency companies across the state that are helping consumers and businesses generate made-in-Iowa energy — clean, renewable energy that reduces monthly power bills, creates good, local jobs and helps make both our environment and our economy stronger.

Iowa already knows the power of wind energy. We’re on track to get 40 percent of our energy from wind.

But there’s no good reason to stop there. By increasing the amount of energy we get from solar, and reducing the amount of energy we waste through inefficient buildings, appliances and machinery, Iowa can continue to be a national leader in clean energy.

We now have an unprecedented plan — the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Power Plan — that puts us on the right track to continue growing.

It’s up to Gov. Terry Branstad and Iowa lawmakers to seize the opportunity, not let it pass us by.

By cutting carbon pollution from the biggest source — existing power plants fueled by coal we import to Iowa from other states — the EPA plan represents a major step toward addressing the weather disasters we all know too well here in Iowa.

By encouraging the development of more clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements that will cut electricity waste at our offices buildings, homes and schools, the plan also will be a major step toward creating jobs and economic growth.

Under the EPA plan, it’s up to governors and state officials to implement the new carbon standards in ways that are best for each individual state.

You would think such a win-win scenario would be embraced by Gov. Branstad and other lawmakers. Yet the day the Clean Power Plan was announced, a spokesman for the governor attacked it, saying it would hurt consumers and cost jobs.

Branstad should know better.

What really hurts consumers in Iowa is sending our hard-earned wages to out-of-state coal companies when we could be generating our own clean energy right here — creating local jobs in solar, wind and energy efficiency along the way. What hurts consumers is the $1,100 we each shell out annually in taxes to pay for weather-related disasters ranging from flooding to drought.

Gov. Branstad and others know what we can do. During his first term in office, after all, Iowa implemented the nation’s first renewable energy portfolio policy, which helped create the dramatic growth in wind energy that has made our state a national clean energy leader.

Thanks to smart policies, more than 1,600 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in Iowa in the last two years alone, according to Environmental Entrepreneurs, which tracks clean energy jobs nationwide.

These range from the hundreds of jobs being created at Siemens Corp.’s factory in Fort Madison to build wind turbines for MidAmerican Energy to the dozen or so jobs we’ve created at my solar company in Fairfield.

These are jobs at places like TPI Composites in Newton, where workers laid off at a former appliance factory found new careers making parts for wind turbines. They’re jobs in communities like Frytown, near Iowa City, and in St. Ansgar, where rural electricity co-ops like Farmers Electric Cooperative and Heartland Power are building major solar installations.

The Clean Power Plan will drive more investments like these in renewable energy.

The plan also will encourage energy efficiency in commercial buildings and homes, which can bring enormous benefits to Iowa’s economy. Strong implementation of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan could lead to $134 million in energy savings in our state by 2020, according to a recent report from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Iowa has already shown how sound environmental policies can drive economic growth. We have a plan from the EPA that will keep us moving in the right direction.

It’s now up to our governor and state lawmakers to implement the Clean Power Plan in the strongest way possible, and to lead other Midwestern states in regional efforts to reduce carbon pollution and increase clean energy.

As an Iowa businessman and a veteran, I urge them to do so quickly, for the good of our economy, our environment and our country.

THE AUTHOR:

TROY VAN BEEK owns Ideal Energy in Fairfield with his wife, Amy. Van Beek is a former U.S. Navy SEALs and is a member of Fairfield’s Go Green Commission and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Contact: troy@idealenergyinc.com.