Exciting news from here in the Heartland: Six Midwestern governors and a Canadian premier have signed a climate change agreement that will increase renewable energy use, increase energy efficiency, and cut global warming emissions.

Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Manitoba all signed onto the agreement at the Midwestern Governor’s Association (MGA) Energy Summit that was held in Milwaukee, WI earlier this month. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) co-chaired the summit. The governors of Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota signed on as observers to the process but did not commit to the accord.

The Midwest relies heavily on coal for most of its energy now: roughly 71 percent is from coal (national average is 49 percent). And although it has 22 percent of the nation’s population, the region produces 27 percent of its global warming emissions.

Why this agreement now? Because, lacking federal action, there is an urgent need to move forward regionally on global warming and achieve real results. The Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform for the Midwest further explains:

“Rising energy prices, increasing dependence on imported energy, growth in domestic and global demand for energy, and mounting concern over how to address climate change while sustaining and enhancing economic growth and job creation pose serious challenges to the Midwest’s energy future. As Midwestern leaders, we recognize our region’s obligation to provide leadership on these challenges, and the clear benefits of cooperating regionally to meet them.”

The Midwest is the third area in the U.S. to agree to a regional plan to slow global warming. Both the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the East and the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative aims to cut emissions by a target date.

The thrust of the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord is to generate 20 percent of the region’s electricity from renewables by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030. Other key points include:

• Reduce energy use 2 percent by 2015 and to continue to reduce it 2 percent every year after that.
• Develop a multi-sector cap-and-trade policy to reach emission reduction targets. The targets for the cap-and-trade program will be determined in the next 12 months and implemented by mid-2010. Each state will have its own CO2 reduction goal.
• Accelerate the commercialization of advanced coal and natural gas technologies for the capture and geologic storage of CO2 emissions, including for enhanced oil and gas recovery.
• Offer E-85 (fuel that is 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) at 15 percent of gas stations, up from the current 3 percent.
• Work together on regional transmission planning and siting to better move renewable energy from rural areas where it is often generated to the urban areas where it is needed.

The signing of this agreement means that, in combination with other regional agreements in the the country, nearly half of all Americans live in areas covered by agreements to fight global warming.

Detroit Free Press
Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform for the Midwest
Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Reuters
Associated Press, via WCCO TV
Wind Energy Weekly