Former Gov. Granholm to push for national clean energy policy in new job

Mar 24 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Chris Christoff Detroit Free Press

Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm will lead a campaign for a national clean energy policy that promotes and helps fund wind, solar and advanced battery industries in the U.S.

Granholm has joined the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts as a senior adviser on energy, and will visit states twice monthly to promote clean energy jobs and methods of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

That's in addition to a teaching job she will begin in April at the University of California-Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy.

Granholm also is a paid contributor to NBC's TV show "Meet the Press."

In an interview Wednesday from Washington, D.C., Granholm said she will use Michigan as an example of how to develop an advanced battery industry for an emerging market for electric-powered vehicles.

As governor, Granholm made renewable energy industries a keystone of her economic development policy. She worked to get agreements for 17 advanced battery plants to be built, mainly linked to the automotive industry and with the help of federal grants and generous incentives from the state.

She said the U.S. must not fall behind China and Europe in producing renewable energy products.

"If the right national policy is in place, then jobs will be created across the country, and the United States will be more independent of foreign oil," Granholm said. "Policy matters."

Granholm said the lack of a national manufacturing policy is a major factor in the decline of cities like Detroit, and that Michigan's manufacturing know-how could help it gain more clean energy jobs -- if the federal government helps.

Granholm, a Democrat, will lead the project with ex-Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, who in 2009 joined the Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate.

She said the Pew campaign aims to stir public interest that will pressure Congress. It has four goals:

-- By 2020, increase hybrid and electric vehicle sales to 25% of all new-car sales in the U.S.

-- Double the number of sites that use so-called waste heat from manufacturing to generate electric power.

-- Have 20% of energy produced in the U.S. to come from renewable sources by 2025.

-- Increase federal funding for clean energy research to $16 billion by 2015 -- four times what is spent now.

Contact Chris Christoff: 517-372-8660 or cchristoff@freepress.com