For immediate release:                          Contact: Anne Sayers, Program Director,

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June 3, 2009                                        (608) 661-0845, anne@conservationvoters.org

Legislature Urged to Support Renewable Energy in State Budget
Restoring Cuts Made by JFC will Protect Green Jobs and Reduce Global Warming

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Madison- As the state Assembly begins to review the budget proposal put forth by the Joint Finance Committee, legislators are urged to review the importance, and past successes, of the Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund. The Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund, established in 2007, directs funds to projects and programs that protect natural resources, leverage economic opportunities, and ensure that local communities, businesses and institutions benefit from the goal of making Wisconsin energy independent.

Last week, members of the Joint Finance Committee voted to completely eliminate all funding for the program over the next two years. Governor Doyle had appropriated $14.85 million per year for the program in his budget proposal.

“In tough budget times like these, it is understandable that legislators are critically analyzing each dollar the state spends. We urge legislators to take another look at the Energy Independence program. They will find that because it will help create jobs and reduce the costs associated with global warming, it will have great rewards for Wisconsin’s workers and environment,” explained Anne Sayers, Program Director for Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.

In the two years since its inception, the Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund is responsible for helping to transition Flambeau River Paper to an integrated pulp and paper mill, the first in the nation to operate without fossil fuels. The achievement was especially meaningful to the community of Park Falls where 300 workers who had been laid off in 2006 were able to return to work.

Investing in clean, homegrown energy is critical to transitioning Wisconsin to a 21st century economy. Grants and loans awarded from the Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund are meant to develop this next generation of technologies that can be used to grow green energy businesses and put Wisconsinites to work.

A few examples from the 2009 Energy Independence Fund grantees demonstrate the economic development potential for Wisconsin:

•    With a grant of $250,000, Greenstone Technologies will develop technologies to create energy for heating and lighting in commercial buildings, which will dramatically reduce pollution and save businesses money.
•    With a grant of $250,000, Pabst Engineering and Manufacturing of Onalaska will produce anaerobic digesters for dairy farms that will help increase the amount of renewable energy output while, at the same time, reduce the polluted runoff that harms Wisconsin’s waterways.
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•    With a grant of $250,000, Solray LLC will develop more sophisticated ways to store the energy created by renewable sources, so Wisconsin consumers can count on a steady stream of energy even when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.

Conservationists are urging state legislators to consider restoring some funding to the Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund so that, at a minimum, the program may maintain continuity.

Increasing Wisconsin’s commitment to clean energy was selected as one of four Conservation Priorities by Wisconsin’s conservation community for the 2007-2008 legislative. As a past Conservation Priority, the issue was supported by more than fifty organizations and thousands of citizens around the state.

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Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
dedicated to electing conservation leaders, holding decision makers accountable and
encouraging lawmakers to champion conservation policies that

effectively protect Wisconsin’s public health and natural resources.

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