Also, from the Des Moines Register this morning. Lyle Krewson ___________________________________________________ Columnists Basu: Use wind, sun to propel America forward By REKHA BASU Register Columnist 10/22/2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Most of the plans you hear these days for America's future involve undoing damage. The damage done by free-trade agreements and the flight of capital and jobs overseas. The damage from unemployment, a sour economy, rising health costs and premiums, shredded safety nets. Environmental degradation, Enron, WorldCom, the collapse of California's energy system, Iowa's declining rural population and all of its ripple effects on tax bases and school closings. Administrations of both parties have contributed to the crises. Corporate greed, aided by loopholes and lax oversight and the events of Sept. 11, have played their share. But no matter who wins the presidential election or what remedial measures are taken (canceling NAFTA, for instance), Americans need more to hang their hopes on than the prospect of simply cleaning up messes. We need bigger dreams. Into this solemn picture last week came a coalition of Iowa labor, environmental and farm leaders to kick off an ambitious campaign called the New Apollo Project. The plan is to develop new energy technologies that would create a fleet of manufacturing jobs, revitalize the environment, reduce pollution and our dependence on foreign oil. All of it would put Iowa in center stage. America could do this, say proponents, by investing in alternative sources of clean, renewable energy such as solar and wind power. It doesn't come cheap. Proponents talk about an initial federal outlay of $300 billion over 10 years, which is hardly likely to sail through Congress on the heels of an $87 billion appropriation to rebuild Iraq. But if they're right, it would result in 3 million new jobs and retraining for laid-off manufacturing workers. The plan is spearheaded by a Washington, D.C.-based partnership of non-profits named the Apollo Alliance. "Like President John F. Kennedy's Apollo Project, which put a man on the moon in under a decade, a New Apollo Project for energy freedom will tap our ingenuity, our collective spirit and our competitive drive to create a stronger economy and a safer world," says a letter to presidential candidates. The letter was co-authored by members of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Iowa Farmers Union, the Iowa Renewable Energy Association, Iowa Environmental Council, two former state senators and several labor unions, among other groups. Leaders say the development of computer chips, national highways and space explorations got their start with massive public investments. "For just a fraction of the $70 billion America will lose each year to off-shore tax havens, we can close the growing technology gap between the U.S. and our economic competitors," says the letter. "New investments in energy sources such as clean biomass and wind power will not only provide a much-needed economic stimulus for rural Iowa, they will also result in greater tax revenues and a lower federal debt." Too good to be true? Apollo's Iowa field director, Matt Ewing, says no. America, he says, has gotten strong by "using its ingenuity to push the curve. . . . This is the time America needs to do what it does best, and that's to think big." America invested in inventing the technologies that other countries have used to surpass us, he says: 90 percent of wind turbines are now produced in Europe, and Japan's market share of solar panels has doubled to 50 percent. The investments will pay for themselves and then some, says Ewing, noting that San Francisco passed solar bonds allowing the city to borrow $100 million to install solar power in schools and government buildings. The savings in energy costs are expected to pay for the investment. Once the technology is in place, the private sector gets involved. A detailed "white paper" is due by Thanksgiving. Ewing's immediate task is building a grass-roots consensus. The campaign is focused here because of the presidential caucuses and because the Midwest is particularly hurting. Iowa has lost 36,000 jobs since 2001, Ewing says. "But the solutions are here, too. Iowa is the third-largest wind energy producer in the country. We think wind could be the next cash crop." Accordingly, the campaign's slogan is: Shift our energy dependence from the Mideast to the Midwest. It does have a certain ring. If only there were a single panacea for all the foreign and domestic problems facing America, the crises in state and local and school budgets. But this proposal has promise on many fronts. It can lead to creating jobs, investing in public infrastructure, decentralizing energy networks to prevent the problems behind the recent multistate blackout, moving toward energy self-sufficiency and a new basis for foreign policy, free from our oil dependence. Mostly, it would put America on the cutting edge of something again. Unfortunately, there's little political capital in talking about huge government expenditures right now. That's why the clamor will have to begin with the public. ___________________________________________________ Lyle R. Krewson Sierra Club Conservation Organizer 6403 Aurora Avenue #3 Des Moines, IA 50322-2862 515/276-8947 515/238-7113 - cel [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] ___________________________________________________ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp