Colorado’s developing “new energy economy” is poised to use dollars dedicated to green energy from the recently passed federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Saturday afternoon a panel convened by the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance talked about how Colorado is ready to use that money to create jobs and new technologies.
“We’re going to get out of this recession by growing our economy,” said Congresswoman Betsy Markey, a guest at the town hall meeting. “(The bill) is intended to both create and save jobs.
“Isn’t it nice that we’re making an investment in our future as well?”
According to panelist Pam Kiely, the legislative director for advocacy group Environment Colorado, $78.6 billion of the entire $787 billion stimulus bill will go toward alternative energy projects.
She said the state energy program would get $49.1 million; this is a program that otherwise has an annual budget of $7 million to $8 million.
And she said the state would get more than $80 million for the weatherization of homes.
“This is like an incredible infusion of investment that we’ve never seen before,” Kiely said.
Panel members said Colorado has been working for years on projects that make it perfectly suited to take advantage of the green energy dollars.
Those projects include: the photovoltaic cell research going on at Colorado State University; the expansion of wind turbine manufacturer Vestas; work on turning feed crops such as corn into biofuels; and research at Colorado State University into smart-grid power transmission technology.
“We really have something that is powerful for these local entrepreneurs,” said panelist Tony Frank, the director of renewable energy for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. “A framework’s been put in place for exciting opportunities that we want to develop.”
And the panelists said these opportunities could create 8,800 jobs in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District alone.
The panelists also discussed how some of the green energy funding will especially help rural communities.
These communities could build wind farms, save money by weatherizing homes and participate in agricultural and other kinds of research.
“This is just the beginning,” Kiely said. “There is a lot more to be done.”
© 2009 Daily Reporter-Herald.
