Michigan Political Week in Review: Feb. 1-7
“Imported from Detroit.” For those watching the Super Bowl last night, that Chrysler commercial may have been the best part of the evening. Watching the Big Three --- and, yes, I believe that moniker certainly deserves to be restored --- reestablish themselves on the national stage was exciting; especially seeing the electrified Chevy Volt featured so prominently.
It makes you wonder what else this great state, built on the shoulders of our engineering and manufacturing dominance, could further export to the nation and the world. The international hub for both automotive and clean energy manufacturing certainly has a nice ring, doesn’t it? In today’s Political Week in Review, some of the good and bad news on the road to that vision.
Good News from Congress ...
As dealerships struggle to keep up with the demand for the new electric cars pouring out of the factory doors (Chevy upgraded their Volt output from 10,000 to 25,000 in the Hamtramck plant, alone), it is still important to continue the tax credits that reward American consumers for being the first adapters in electric vehicle technology. Fortunately, with the current credits close to expiration, Sen. Stabenow is stepping up and introducing a bill to continue the incentives.
Stabenow's bill makes this process even easier than it currently is, by giving the $7,500 incentive at the point of sale, rather than waiting until your taxes are filed.
To add even more horsepower to this effort, Stabenow also is seeking tax credits for public investments in charging stations, incentives for cities to purchase hybrid trucks, and a continued investment in the nation’s advanced battery technology. The benefits of her legislation are enormous: A cleaner fleet of vehicles on our highways, lower gas bills for families and cities, decreased dependency on foreign oil, and most importantly, new jobs for all the Michigan workers who will put all of this into gear.
... and Bad News from Congress
Michigan’s own Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, finally released the draft of his bill that would strip the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of its Supreme Court-granted authority to regulate greenhouse gasses.
In fulfilling this promise he made to so many new Tea Party legislators in his bid to win the chairmanship, Upton is poised to remove significant incentives for job creation in the clean energy sector. Of course, this bill would also serve to effectively ignore the well-documented necessity to move away from heavy pollution and the climate change and negative health effects it creates.
Although the Obama Administration once again threatened a veto of any legislation containing this kind of attack against the EPA, pursuing this purely idealogical battle is a waste of time that detracts from the real issues that this nation is facing. Ironically, Upton's legislation would only serve to stymie the growing clean energy sector just as we are beginning to pull out of a recession.
Good news from Grand Rapids ...
In his State of the City address, Mayor George Heartwell outlined a number of difficult decisions that Grand Rapids must confront. One decision, though, that he was very clear on was that his city must continue its leadership in sustainability and energy efficiency.
His outline of the ways that Grand Rapids can create jobs and save money in the process should be well noted by every mayor in the state. Kudos to Mayor Heartwell on tackling the immediate challenges every city is facing right now without losing focus on the opportunities of the future.
... Bad news from Rogers City
The previously stalled proposed Wolverine Power Plant in Rogers City received word from Judge Fagerman that it could continue in its efforts to obtain a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to build its coal-fired plant.
The Snyder Administration followed up the news by stating that --- unlike a related case in Holland --- it would not be appealing the ruling. The ultimate outcome of the permit decision is yet to be decided. But what is clear is that there is still no need for another fossil fuel plant in Michigan; our power needs can be already be met by existing infrastructure and renewable energy investments.
Finally, the link to the “Imported from Detroit” Ad
Other than the folks voting at the Wall Street Journal site that somehow thought the Joan Rivers GoDaddy ad was among the very best of the Super Bowl, the talk on the Internet and around Michigan is all about the Chrysler ad.
Here it is: "Imported from Detroit"
Those of you who receive this email each week already have a strong sense of Michigan pride ... but that doesn’t mean it isn't nice to see someone else spend $9 million to share that with the rest of the world, too.
Until next week,
Ryan Werder
Political Director, Michigan League of Conservation Voters
