State task force makes proposals to confront global warming

To tackle global warming, Wisconsin should:

• Consider erecting wind turbines on the Great Lakes.

• Reward utilities for cutting energy use instead of building power plants.

• Study the possibility of pumping carbon dioxide from power plants into the ground or sending it by pipeline to other states.

Those are among the recommendations in an interim report that the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming will vote on Tuesday in Sun Prairie.

The task force also will endorse a significant cut in energy use by Wisconsin homes and businesses as a critical first step in addressing global warming.

Much of the panel's work lies ahead, with a final report expected in May.

The co-chairs of the task force, Roy Thilly of Wisconsin Public Power Inc. and Tia Nelson of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, declined to discuss specifics of the plan before Tuesday's meeting.

Gov. Jim Doyle was among a group of governors and mayors who last year began looking for ways to cut greenhouse gases as scientists saw greater evidence of a link between the burning of fossil fuels and rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Doyle formed the panel, which includes representatives of utilities, industry and conservation groups, a year ago, asking it to come up with recommendations to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80% by 2050.

The push has both environmental and economic ramifications because politicians and the business community are hopeful that the state can exploit home-grown technology and the use of biofuels such as those that could be produced by the state's paper- and wood-product industry.

But tackling climate change while balancing competing agendas will be daunting. Environmentalists on the 29-member panel fear Doyle won't go far enough, while representatives of business worry a shift away from energy sources such as coal will lead to higher electric prices.

Hot button issues avoided

In the interim report, the panel steered clear of hot button issues such as whether the state should remove a ban on construction of nuclear power plants.

A subcommittee of the task force was split on whether to endorse new nuclear plants. Nuclear power is strongly opposed by many environmentalists, but the technology doesn't produce carbon dioxide emissions like coal does.

Wisconsin's carbon dioxide emissions have outpaced the nation's in recent years. And they are projected to rise faster as new coal-fired plants begin generating electricity. Wisconsin relies more on coal than 37 other states, the Journal Sentinel found last year.

Wisconsin's greenhouse gas emissions grew by 1.2% per year between 1990 and 2003.

If little changes, emissions would rise by another 20% between 2004 and 2024, according to a forecast prepared for the task force.

This is one reason Wisconsin and other states are exploring ways in which carbon dioxide would be captured at power plants and injected into known underground repositories. The report says it is unlikely that Wisconsin has suitable geology to bury the gas; it might need to ship it by pipeline to Illinois.

Many of the panel's recommendations are likely to require action by the Legislature or the state Public Service Commission.

In coming months, panel members will take up other thorny issues, such as reducing highway speeds or endorsing commuter rail links between Milwaukee and Kenosha, and from Milwaukee to Madison.

Energy conservation

For now, the panel sought to concentrate on how the state can move the quickest. Its top pick: energy conservation.

If it cuts its appetite, Wisconsin would reverse course and, by 2015, cut electric demand by 2% per year, and natural gas use by 1% annually, the report says.

Other strategies call for adoption of building codes that promote energy efficiency, incentives for green buildings and a directive to owners of rental units to install high-efficiency lighting in public spaces.

To bolster the state's portfolio of renewable power, the report calls for a study by year's end that would evaluate the potential for Great Lakes wind power.

Today, wind power generates about 2% of the state's electric needs. State law calls for an increase in renewable power to 10% by 2015. Doyle has called for a larger increase by 2025.

The report notes that winds are stronger in Iowa and Minnesota than in Wisconsin. The state's greatest potential for wind power "may lie only a few miles off its shores," the report says.

So far, no developers have submitted plans to use Lake Michigan as a site for wind turbines.

A related recommendation aims to counteract the efforts of some local governments that are restricting wind turbine proposals. The change would allow the Public Service Commission to assume more oversight over smaller projects now handled by localities.

The report also calls for changes in regulating utilities. Power companies would be rewarded for generating less - not more - electricity and natural gas. Any meaningful effort to conserve electricity will need the support of utilities, which traditionally earn greater returns from constructing plants and selling more energy.

The PSC would be asked to explore ways in which the companies could profit, even as revenue falls.

One option on the table: electric rates that reward conservation, similar to recently approved water rates for customers in the City of