Governor Pawlenty included energy as one of his four “horses” in this week’s State of the State address. I can’t but think about the apocalypse when four horses are brought into a conversation, but the Governor does seem to be riding in the right direction on this one. At the end of the section there is also a little plug for passing a bill that would enable voters to amend the constitution to dedicate a portion of the sales tax for environmental purposes. You can hear the audio of this section from the Governor’s website (mp3 format).
Later today the Senate Energy policy committee will be taking up a bill that will create a statewide requirement for renewable electricity generation, along with a few other bills – such as the Governor’s energy package. Christopher has a posting on Energista that digs into the bills some. It is my understanding that the committee chair plans to have a vote on the Renewable Electricity Standard bill next week.
Were you surprised that water — specifically the Clean Water Legacy initiative — did not show up in the address?
I was thinking about this after I wrote the post and indeed, it does trouble me that there was no mention of Clean Water Legacy. With the Governor’s budget due out next week and the need for a major increase in funding for restoration of our lakes and rivers, I would have hoped it would warrent a quick mention.
The fact that it didn’t, along with some speculation and rumors by lobbyists, makes me worried that Legacy numbers are going to be far too low in the budget proposal released next week.