Carol Browner on Detroit Automakers: "So Much Optimism!"

Former head of the EPA and Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, Carol Browner, was in Michigan on August 3rd to talk to Detroit vehicle manufacturers about the future of the industry. She was invited by freshman Representative Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield) who has recently introduced legislation called ADVANCED VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ACT that will inject $550 million into the Dept. of Energy for research and development of the next generation of energy efficient vehicles.

Carol Browner, head of the Enviromental Protection Agency under Bill Clinton, was picked by President Obama as the first director of the newly created Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy. She was in Michigan yesterday to attend an event described by the Detroit News as "a panel of auto executive, suppliers and academic and government researchers gathered Monday at Automation Alley to discuss the future of car production in the United States".

While there, she talked to the crowd about the Obama administration's view that vehicle fuel efficiency advances and emissions regulation are "part of an ongoing commitment to help the industry recover and retool". In other words, rather than an impediment to the industry, these actions to protect our planet and to wean our country off from our dependency on foreign fossil fuels are an OPPORTUNITY for U.S. vehicle manufacturers to regain their position as global leaders in the development and manufacturing of vehicles people actually want to buy.

"There are so many interesting things going on here in Detroit, and we want to start down that path of breaking our dependence on foreign oil."

Browner also said that the current administration is insistent that commercially successful developments be "technologically neutral". "It should be driven by science and driven by the consumer," she told the panel. According to the Oakland Press, Browner said she plans "to use her notes from the discussion to build inquiries on how the federal government could do more for carmakers."

Later in the evening I attended a fundraiser for Rep. Peters and Ms. Browner was in attendance. She spoke passionately about the Obama administration's strong desire to help domestic automakers rise from the ashes. Rather than seeing a group of downtrodden, beaten-up business people, she was delighted to find a receptive and eager audience, ready to take on the new challenges posed by our woeful economy and our nation's energy & climate situation.

"There was just so much optimism in the room today."

There's reason for optimism. Rep. Peters, the first Democrat to be elected in his district since it was created in 1933, is working hard to ensure that manufacturers in this state are given the tools they need to adapt to the changing economic reality. Passing a bill out of committee in his first eight months in office is no small feat. According to Peters' press release, his legislation:

“Investing in research and development of advanced vehicle technologies will help our auto companies turn the corner and emerge from the global economic crisis,” said Rep. Peters. “This legislation will help ensure the cars of the future are built here in the U.S., creating good paying jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. In Southeast Michigan we have many companies in prime position to lead the world in the development of these exciting new products. This bill is good for the country and great for Michigan. These are exactly the sort of targeted investments we need to get our economy moving.”

And this isn't all just about cars. Peters says his bill "would also aggressively expand efforts to develop fuel efficient commercial truck technologies and engage auto parts and component suppliers in DOE research and development programs." What does that mean? Here's an example (from the Detroit News article):

Dr. Grace Bochenek, director of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in Warren, said her organization is looking for light-weight solutions for military vehicles including the Humvee, which gets 3 miles per gallon.

"We hope to drive an all-electric ground combat vehicle by 2025. We see that as a capability that will change battlefield dynamics," Bochenek said.

After the panel discussion yesterday, both Peters and Browner were able to see some other examples of the new technological advances that are in the pipeline including an all-electric Ford Focus, due to be released in 2011, and together they drove a next-generation semi-truck. "He drove, I was just a passenger," Browner joked at the fundraiser. "It was in parking lot so everyone was safe!"

I am thrilled to see a Michigan Democrat taking such an early and strong position in this area and it's welcome news that the Obama administration is taking it very seriously as well. My only regret? Two sentences into introducing myself to Ms. Browner, Rep. John Dingell arrived to give a speech and she was hustled off immediately afterwards to catch a plane. I never got a chance to tell her about our local OFA group's efforts to make sure energy conservation stimulus money is being spent properly and directed to those who need it most.

Maybe next time.

Mich. Gov. issues significant climate change executive order

In November of 2007, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued an executive order establishing the Michigan Climate Action Council (MCAC). Over the course of the next 16 months, the MCAC, a collection of stakeholders from across the spectrum, developed a 125-page document, the Michigan Climate Action Council Climate Action Plan [.pdf] which contains 53 recommendations for reducing the impacts of climate change.

Yesterday, during the Clean Energy Now! rally on the lawn of the Michigan Capitol, we learned via Twitter that Governor Granholm had signed a second executive order, EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE No. 2009-4, that implements several of the MCAC's recommendations, all aimed at achieving the MCAC's stated goal of delivering a 20% reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050.

Here's the tweet we received from "govgranholm":

Just signed Climate Action Council exec. order - 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050; 20% reduction by 2020. GREAT news for Michigan!

The Michigan Climate Action Council is composed of 35 different representatives [.pdf] from groups ranging from energy companies and corporations to government groups and native American tribes. Their goals were to:

• Produce an inventory and forecast of greenhouse gas sources and emissions from 1990-2020.
  
• Consider potential state and multi-state actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change in various sectors including energy supply, energy efficiency and conservation, industrial process and waste management, transportation and land use, and agriculture and forestry.
  
• Develop a comprehensive climate action plan with specific recommendations for reducing greenhouse gases in Michigan by business, government and the general public.
  
• Advise state and local government on measures to address climate change.

They came up with 54 total recommendations. 52 of these were approved unanimously, one was not unanimous and the last was rejected. The MCAC estimates that, if implemented, their recommendations would "result in overall net cumulative savings in Michigan of more than $10 billion between 2009 and 2025, with additional significant cost savings between 2020 and 2050."

Governor Granholm's executive order implements nine of these recommendations, including:

• Revising building codes to include higher energy efficiency standards.
  
• Reducing vehicular congestion in major urban areas by expanding the use of intelligent transportation systems, mitigating bottlenecks, and constructing roundabouts.
  
• Developing a truck idling program for the state fleet of trucks, buses and heavy-duty equipment that will reduce emissions created by unnecessary idling.
  
• Creating an eco-driver program for all employees using state vehicles that will educate them on how to maximize vehicle fuel economy.
  
• Expanding the Michigan Conservation and Climate Initiative to educate farmers in carbon sequestration (capture) practices that can be applied to their land.

At the Clean Energy Now! rally yesterday, one of the speakers was Frank Ettawageshik, the past Chair of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians and a member of the MCAC. During his talk, he discussed the native American concept of thinking and making decisions while taking into account seven generations into the future. He said that when you do this, decisions that might seem easy to make take on a new dimension when seven generations are considered.

This was the case with one of the Council's recommendations which had six opposing votes and two abstentions: the promotion of "New Nuclear Power". Ettawageshik told the rally crowd that, when looked at in the near-term, the decision to promote nuclear power seems easy and smart. But when looked at from the perspective of seven future generations, the decision changes. As he pointed out, nuclear waste requires oversight for a longer period of time than any civilization has existed in the history of our planet.

Perhaps as we consider the major issues of our day like climate change/pollution, health care reform, education and others, we, too, should think in terms of several future generations. Our lawmakers today seem incapable of thinking beyond several future months or years (i.e., election cycles) and that, I believe, harms us all.