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Thursday, November 30, 2006
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Coleman calls for national man-on-the-moon type of commitment to renewable energy
Associate Editor STAPLES - Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., Wednesday called for a commitment to renewable energy on scale of the U.S. effort that put a man on the moon in the 1960s.
Speaking to Staples-Motley High School FFA members and other interested parties at the Central Lakes College Agriculture Center Wednesday morning, Coleman said President George Bush understands the need for renewable energy but should place more emphasis on the issue.
"I think we need a more sustained commitment," Coleman said. "We need a major national commitment."
His visit to Staples, at a 6,000-square-foot building fueled entirely by a corn-burning heater, was part of a year-end tour that will help fulfill his pledge to visit all 87 of Minnesota's counties in 2006. Coleman's Wednesday itinerary listed stops in Wadena, Park Rapids, Bagley and Long Prairie. He was scheduled to complete his all-county tour sometime Thursday.
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Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., (leaning forward) inspected the corn-burning unit that heats the 6,000-square-foot Central Lakes College Agriculture Center with corn that is grown at the site. Norm Krause, director of the center, explained how the unit works as Coleman and Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, looked on. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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Four years ago, Coleman said some of his Senate colleagues regarded his interest in ethanol and other forms of renewable energy as provincialism aimed at pleasing the state's farmers. Those critics argued that the amount of energy spent to produce ethanol wasn't worth the amount of energy that was saved by the renewable energy.
"I think people read the Wall Street Journal and actually believed it," he said, referring to that newspaper's editorial criticism of ethanol.
Today, he said, because so much of the oil is in the hands of "bad guys" in Venezuela and Iran, renewable energy is regarded as an issue that's related to national security.
"We have a chance now to get rid of an addiction to foreign oil," he said.
Addressing the FFA students, Coleman recalled the huge effort that went into making President John F. Kennedy's pledge to put a man on the moon within a decade a reality. At the outset of that endeavor, he said, the nation's computer capacity was probably less than what is available in a PlayStation 2.
Renewable energy, in the form of ethanol production and wind energy, could be a boon for rural communities, the first-term senator said. He said he expected there would be a strong energy component to the 2007 farm bill and that could provide a bright future for rural areas.
"The good news is communities right here are a part of that."
The bad news, he countered, is that rural areas are losing population and with it, political clout.
The global economy and competing countries effect what happens in small-town America, Coleman said.
"We're not going to win the battle for lower-wage jobs," he said. "We're going to win the (economic) battle if we have smart kids and better-trained workers. The heartland of America has produced the best and the brightest. We'll do it with smart kids and committed communities."
Coleman said he is an advocate of tax credits to encourage the use of renewable energy and favors a smorgasbord approach that encompasses wind, ethanol and even solar energy.
Norm Krause, director of the CLC Agriculture Center, said after Coleman's meeting, that the corn-burning system, which heats the 6,000-square-foot center might someday be expanded to heat other campus buildings. The system, which is in its first year, is expected to save money compared to the $1,000 a month that previously had been spent on natural gas.
Krause's son, Jon, 17, one of the FFA members in attendance, said he enjoyed Coleman's presentation and that the senator appeared knowledgeable about farm issues.
Dustin Smith, 14, another FFA member, agreed and said the senator knew what he was talking about.
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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