Letters From Washington

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Comment by Ted Wallace on March 31, 2009 at 6:47am

Nice response.
Now if I could only figure out what's preventing them from writing "Pickens" on the page......
I wonder how we could approach in on the "Gang of 15".. One of our best selling points on the PP is there is not a lot of give required of either side. Spend money on jobs and a new grid, the windmills and solar will pay for themselves.

Comment by Missy Steichen on March 31, 2009 at 6:30am

Dear Missy:

Thank you for contacting me about renewable energy. Your comments are important to me, and I appreciate your taking the time to share them.

Promoting the development of homegrown renewable energy resources is one of my top priorities as the Senator from Minnesota. In February 2008, I introduced the American Renewable Energy Act (S. 2642) with Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). This bill would create strong, consistent incentives for private sector investment in renewable energy by extending key production tax credits (PTCs) for wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal technologies for five years. Over the last 10 years, these tax incentives have been allowed to expire three times. This “stop, start” approach is no way to run a government policy that is supposed to promote long-term business investment. Longer extensions of these incentives will provide businesses the clarity and certainty they need to make large-scale, forward-looking capital investments in these resources.

In June, the Senate debated the Renewable Energy and Jobs Creation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049), a bill that included tax incentives similar to my bill. Unfortunately, despite my support in the Senate, H.R. 6049 did not receive the necessary 60 votes to pass in the Senate. I am pleased to report that after voting seven times over the last year to extend and expand PTCs, my colleagues in the House and Senate and I were finally able to pass these vital credits as part of the economic rescue package (H.R. 1424) that was signed into law on October 3, 2008. These credits provided a one year PTC extension for wind power, a two year extension for biomass, geothermal, wave, tidal, landfill gas, solid waste, and hydropower, and an eight year extension of the residential tax credit for solar power.

In the most recent economic package that Congress passed, H.R. 1 (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), we were able to extend those credits for another two years and we were able to expand the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds fund, which provides tax-exempt entities with federal incentives for clean-energy projects. For individuals, H.R. 1 included tax credits of up to $1,500 for home improvements such as new energy efficient furnaces, air conditioners, windows, insulation, and geothermal heat pumps. We also extended and expanded the tax credit for purchasing hybrid and clean diesel automobiles.

Because of our extreme temperatures and the great distances we drive, Minnesotans suffer disproportionately from high energy prices. Minnesotans understand better than many other Americans the need for a bold, comprehensive energy strategy that will provide relief to consumers in the short term while building a broad-based foundation for our long-term energy security and independence. That is why I joined the Senate’s “Gang of 15,” a group of nine Democratic and six Republican Senators who are working on a bipartisan solution to our energy crisis. Our goal is to work toward a compromise that would help spur the creation of non-petroleum vehicular technology, support weatherization assistance programs, safe nuclear energy development, and authorize limited drilling leases to help us bridge the gap from old to new energy resources. Please know that I am continuing to fight for these bold energy solutions as well as an expansion of renewable technologies in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. One of the most important parts of my job is listening to what the people of Minnesota have to say to me. I am here in our nation’s capital to do the public’s business and to serve the people of our state. With that in mind, please do not hesitate to contact me again about matters of concern to you.

Sincerely,

Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator

Comment by Ted Wallace on March 31, 2009 at 3:35am

I guess Missy isn't counting the e-mails LOL.
I will continue to e-mail AND CALL (they are taking and counting phone calls)
Go for it!
t's crunch time!.
PS. Each phone call counts as 1000 people and this is an absokute fact.

Comment by Jack Costantino on March 30, 2009 at 9:30pm

BE 500 PEOPLE!

The first day of the 3 day Pickens Virtual March on Washington is around the corner. Among other actions, I’m encouraging everyone to send a single eMail EVERY DAY. That is counted as 500 in the minds of our elected officials.

In political arithmetic, you ARE 500 people. Every eMail legislative aides receive is statistically calculated to represent 500 people in a congressional district who feel exactly the same way...even if they didn’t actually write. That’s absolute fact. It’s a simple thing to do, but it has tremendous impact.

Please go to Find your District Congressman and enter your zip code in the box on the far right side. You will be directed to a page at CONGRESS.ORG that automatically finds and allows you to eMail your elected officials on the federal and state level. Copy and paste the following text:

--------------------------Beginning of Letter ---------------------------------------------------

(Subject Box:) Support the Pickens Plan

(Issue Area Box: Choose Energy)

(Editable Text Area:)

I am a constituent living in (FILL IN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OR TOWN) who supports the Pickens Plan and asks you to do the same. America’s dependence on foreign oil depletes our economy, threatens our national security and negatively impacts our environment.

Please sign the Pickens Pledge and support conservation, education and the development of clean energy at every possible opportunity. It’s important for our economy and the well being of generations to come.

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.

------------------------End of Letter ------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the options are your own choice. Click the “Send Message” button at the bottom of the page.

This type of appeal makes our leaders take notice, and I urge every one of you to BE 500 PEOPLE today, because you really are. You have power that can be delivered with a few clicks of your finger. Don’t wait…do it now!

Thank you for your support.

Jack Costantino, DL, NJ-11
NJDLD

Comment by Missy Steichen on March 29, 2009 at 3:37pm

I want to make sure everyone understands that there are no points given out for uploading letters in this group. It is meant as a way to read and keep track our elected officials replies in response to our push for the Pickens Plan.
But I'll give you all a (((BIG HUG))) for all the hard work you're doing for our country! And if you come to Duluth, I'll buy you a beer! Lets keep it up!

Comment by Chandrashekar Tamirisa on March 29, 2009 at 11:33am

A recent Economist magazine article highlights two other initiatives: the Illinois Smart Grid Initiative sponsored by the Galvin Project (they are also implementing smart microgrids) and Xcel Energy along with LED bulb development at the University of Cambridge in the U.K.

This March 21st-27th issue of the magazine has an interesting summary of the issues surrounding nuclear power also.

As an educator Leslie should be interested in the Xcel energy education pages on its website if she has not already come across them.

The most important thing for the purposes of PP to form more partnerships is the NIST work on smart grid interoperability standards following the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to ensure that all the multitude efforts to modernize the nation's grid are in fact coherent.

Comment by Leslie G. on March 29, 2009 at 5:44am

Chand,great work with the letters and your comments.
Thank you and all who were invited for joining.

Comment by Chandrashekar Tamirisa on March 28, 2009 at 8:38pm

Some seminal examples of what I was talking below about increasing private investment are ITC Holdings Corp.,. GE, IBM and Siemens

Comment by Jack Costantino on March 28, 2009 at 8:05pm

HI Missy

YIKES! I hope this site has enough megabytes of storage space. It's going to be a bumpy ride :>)! I'll load you up shortly. They're pretty repetitive but I assume it's the numbers you're looking for?

Hi Leslie! Thanks for the invite to this site. Good idea! Perhaps we can use their accord even if they won't sign the pledge.

Jack Costantino, DL, NJ-11

Comment by Chandrashekar Tamirisa on March 28, 2009 at 7:52pm

Ted's zealousness in commenting on the blog posts of the messages some of us received from our respective state and Congressional district representatives is understandable but it would be best if we kept this discussion limited to the letters themselves which convey an evolving consensus in Washington on energy issues.

Some of the responses I received go back to before there ever was a Pickens Plan and partly this is the reason why some of us joined the plan, to join forces to advance the cause of energy independence.

Therefore, grading the responses from Congress may be inappropriate because the Pickens Plan has its seat at the table across the spectrum of efforts to eventually permanently eliminate the country's dependence on forms of energy that are not clean in their usage, as was demonstrated in the recent energy summit in Washington.

This is also the perspective the Congress takes when it intermediates among the various stakeholders and their perspectives on the future of the country's energy policy to reduce its dependence on imported oil.

The elephant in the room at this point is aligning the incentives for the financial markets with energy diversification in the United States so that non-governmental investment in this area rises to create a vibrant market place for private investments in everything from the backbone of the smart grid to the various modes of clean energy supply and consumption. Natural gas would be an important part of it for the foreseeable future.

Chandrashekar Tamirisa
District Leader, MD-08

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