In an address to a progressive think tank, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm called for feed-in tariffs to develop the American renewable energy industry and the attendant jobs this would create.
Granholm has often spoken publicly about feed-in tariffs in her campaign to bring new industry and jobs to the distressed state. However, in her presentation to Center for American Progress, Granholm was clearer in her policy proscriptions and why they were necessary.
The reason, she said simply, “is that every other country is eating us for lunch”.
“We have to send a message to employers across the world that we’re serious. . .” about renewable energy, she went on. “Bottom line is we need feed-in tariffs for solar and wind . . . All these other countries are doing this,” Granholm added.
The Governor warned the audience that while the US dawdles, others are moving ahead.
“Ontario now has a feed-in tariff. We have been trying to lure a number of solar companies to Michigan . . . and they are all saying, ‘Oh my, are you kidding? I can go across to Ontario and have a feed-in tariff like they have in Germany’.
“We are missing out if we don’t use these smart policies,” here too, she said.
Securing Michigan’s Clean Energy Future–Video: Governor Granholm’s comments on feed-in tariffs begin at the 27 minute marker.
