A Governor`s Story, by Jennifer Granholm: on Energy & Oil


Jennifer Granholm: Diversify into renewable and clean energy

Diversification of our economy meant building specific new sectors based on our existing competitive advantages. Our opportunity analysis and the advice of our experts helped us identify several promising prospects:

Clean energy: Michigan boasted both a strong tradition of manufacturing excellence and a favorable geography for the generation of renewable energy, thanks to our proximity to the enormous natural resources of the Great Lakes.

Advanced manufacturing in fields like robotics, nanotechnology, and materials science: Michigan's track record in science, engineering, design, and manufacturing gave us a measurable advantage in all these growing fields.

Source: A Governor's Story, by Jennifer Granholm, p. 56-57 Oct 1, 2005

Jennifer Granholm: Irresistible tax credits for wind, solar, & biofuels

We passed a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which required that the state acquire a modest 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2015. The new standard ensured that solar, wind, and other providers would find a ready market for their offerings.

Under Pres. Obama, the federal Department of Energy also offered competitive grants for renewable energy manufacturing as part of the Recovery Act. I asked our legislature to create irresistible state tax credits for wind, solar, and biofuels, as well as for advanced energy storage systems (such as the lithium-ion battery used in an electric car). Expanding our private-public partnerships, we created 13 Centers of Energy Excellence to help commercialize universities' breakthrough technologies in clean energy.

A unique strength that only government can provide is the capacity to think systematically about the entire value chain and seek opportunities to strengthen each link in that chain through incentivizing "clusters" of related companies.

Source: A Governor's Story, by Jennifer Granholm, p.257 Oct 1, 2005

John Dingell: Led fight against federal fuel economy standards

Another blow fell on November 20 when Representative Henry Waxman of California unseated Michigan's beloved John Dingell, the longest sitting member in Congress, from his powerful chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Dingell had long championed the perceived interests of the automakers--for example, beating back efforts to increase federal fuel economy standards. It seemed as if Michigan were being stripped of all of its old defenses.
Source: A Governor's Story, by Jennifer Granholm, p.165-166 Oct 1, 2005

  • The above quotations are from A Governor`s Story
    The Fight for Jobs and America's Economic Future,
    by Jennifer Granholm    .
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