Energy

Rep. James Oberstar is urging his colleagues to support the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Oberstar, along with representatives from several other northern states, said on Monday that the number of families in need of energy assistance has skyrocketed over the last year.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the Certificate of Need for a transmission line project necessary for the construction of the Big Stone II coal-fired power plant in Milbank, South Dakota.

Despite a room full of citizens opposed to the plants construction for environmental concerns, many holding signs and some dressed in animal costumes, the PUC did not deliberate on the coal-fired facility itself or the environmental impacts that it may have, focusing instead on the cost of the project and its implications for utility rate payers.

A years-long battle over a proposed coal plant in South Dakota could come to a close during a Minnesota Public Utility Commission hearing in St. Paul this Thursday. The commission will decide on whether to issue a Certificate of Need for transmission line upgrades in Minnesota required to construct the Big Stone II coal-fired power plant.

If the certificate is denied the project will likely be scrapped entirely. If approved, environmental groups will be left with little recourse against the plant’s construction.

Republican incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann and two challengers who hope to unseat her to represent Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District in Washington met in Stillwater Wednesday evening for the first candidates’ forum. In front of a standing-room-only crowd, Bachmann, DFL-endorsed El Tinklenberg and Bob Anderson, the unendorsed Independence Party candidate, sparred mainly over the economy, although energy, the war in Iraq and the Stillwater lift bridge each garnered some attention.

The best line of the night came when Tinklenberg criticized Bachmann on her offshore and ANWR drilling proposals: “The strategy that she has proposed of ‘Drain America First’ is a bad strategy.”

“Drill, baby, drill,” the oft-heard chant of the Republican faithful during the party’s national convention, may become the GOP’s most unfortunate slogan ever as the federal bureau charged with managing and leasing offshore gas and oil reserves is embroiled in a scandal that literally finds them in bed with the oil industry.

The rapidly growing wind industry has been a boon to the Duluth Seaway Port. Fiscal year 2007 was the most profitable ever, according to the Duluth News Tribune, and the demand for turbines and parts is largely credited.

While shipments of turbines from Germany, Denmark and Spain are the norm, exports from North Dakota manufacturers are [...]

During a press conference Tuesday, President Bush once again called on Congress to allow exploratory drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to help reduce gasoline prices and ease America’s dependence of foreign oil. It’s an idea that has been promoted by the president and the oil industry throughout his administration, and continually rejected [...]

In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman calls Hillary’s and McCain’s “gas-tax holiday” proposal what it really is: money laundering masquerading as energy policy. Both candidates say they want to temporarily suspend the 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax over the summer. Cheap gas is a strange thing to support for two candidates who are [...]

In this two-part series, Minnesota Monitor examines the state’s efforts to build a greener industrial base and create new jobs in the process. Part I: When it comes to recruiting “green-collar” jobs to Minnesota, critics say Gov. Tim Pawlenty has had a lower profile than some of his peers. Part II: Minnesota has a “ground-up” [...]

In this two-part series, Minnesota Monitor examines the state’s efforts to build a greener industrial base and create new jobs in the process. Monday: When it comes to recruiting “green-collar” jobs to Minnesota, critics say Gov. Tim Pawlenty has had a lower profile than some of his peers. Tuesday: Minnesota has a “ground-up” strategy to [...]