Apr 28 2008

Ohio: the New Green State

Last Friday Ohio announced that its state senate passed legislation mandating a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The bill, awaiting Governor Strickland's signature, mandates that 12.5% of the Ohio's electricity must come from renewable sources by 2025.

Ohio is now the 26th state in the U.S. to enact a RPS.

In contrast to California's 20% by 2010 RPS goal, this may seem like a fairly weak mandate, but it requires context. Ohio gets 87% of its power from coal. Moreover, the state is a major producer of coal, meaning that a move to renewables could have a broader economic impact.

Ohio's political leaders deserve credit for moving this bill forward in the face of some very tough odds. They also should get recognition for focusing on energy efficiency by setting a goal to reduce energy usage by 22% by 2025.

Energy efficiency benefits the environment and puts dollars immediately in the pockets of energy consumers. It's the quickest and most cost effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental groups hailed the bill as a way to reap the environmental and economic benefits of diversifying Ohio's electricity mix with homegrown wind and solar resources. 

Apparently, the state has substantial wind resources along the glacial ridges of central Ohio, across the farmlands of northwest Ohio, as well as on and off the shores of Lake Erie. Within the next decade, say some environmental groups, Ohio could generate at least 10% of its electricity from wind power alone.

Posted by: Keely Wachs | Comments (0) digg delicioussend to a friendprint entry

 

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  • This is being rather generous to Lutz. 1. The "Volt", in no small part, will be targeted as a product to people who care about energy and environmental issues. These people don't embrace Lutz' antideluvian concepts of rejecting science. How responsible is it for a GM executive to be rejecting the science? 2. As well, Lutz didn't exactly sound too enthusiastic about the Volt itself. 3. And, GM public communications has 'defended' Lutz in rather absurd ways. -A Siegel
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  • This article is right on - small businesses have a huge role to play in sustainability. Not only do they add up in aggregate, but many small businesses operate in industries that can have a significant environmental impact depending on the exact practices, like dry cleaners, auto repair shops, etc. Green is also starting to affect the bottom line more and more, customers are increasingly voting with their feet for more sustainable businesses as can be seen from the growth of sites like http://www.ecovian.com. This is also a huge opportunity for small businesses to leapfrog their bigger brothers by being more agile in adopting these measures. -Emily
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  • Great entry, Katie. Love the level of detail you managed to get in there! Probably won't be able to compete with coal and oil any time the next decade, but definitely a great technology to look into! Keep it up :) -Rune (Norway)
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