GRANHOLM - Granholm Supports National Goal of 25 x 25: Increasing Renewable Energy to 25 Percent by 2025

June 22, 2006

Among issues to be discussed during conference call today with Oregon Governor Kulongoski, citizens

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today will announce support for the national goal of increasing energy used from renewable resources to 25 percent by 2025 as proposed by the Agriculture Energy Working Group and supported by the Energy Future Coalition.

Granholm is expected to announce her support for the policy during a national conference call with Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski today.

“It’s well documented that our dependence on oil, coal, and natural gas for our energy needs has many negative consequences that affect our national security, our climate, and our economy,” Granholm said. “These fuels are nonrenewable, they are expensive, and they are inequitable in terms of the people who have access to them. The agriculture sector holds the key to solving those problems, and we must encourage it do so by 2025."

Earlier this month, concurrent resolutions were introduced in the U.S. House and Senate to express the sense of Congress that 25 percent of energy consumed in the United States should come from renewable resources and be domestically produced.

Guided by its steering committee and assisted by the Energy Future Coalition, the 25 x 25 project aims to unite the agricultural industry to formulate a strategic action plan to achieve the goal of 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. The project maintains that the agricultural sector can provide solutions to these problems by producing biomass, wind, and solar energy to generate electricity and supplement various fuels.

Additionally, the agricultural sector can capture carbon, sequester greenhouse gasses, and improve air, water, and soil quality – all of which will assist the nation in increasing energy from renewable resources

The original 25 x 25 blueprint, created by the Agriculture Energy Working Group, came together in 2004. The group is composed of various agricultural leaders and supported by the Energy Future Coalition.

Granholm is among a list of bipartisan governors supporting the project; among them, Governors Brian Schweitzer, Montana; Mitch Daniels, Indiana; Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania; Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas (and Chair, Governors’ Ethanol Coalition); Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota; Dave Heineman, Nebraska; and Jeb Bush, Florida.

Among those corporations and associations supporting the 25 x 25 project are American Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, National Farmers Union, National Rural Electrical Cooperatives, and Renewable Fuels Association. The project is also supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Today’s conference call between Granholm, Kulongoski and online activists, will focus on America’s energy future. Specifically, Granholm and Kulongoski will discuss the policies they have put in place in their states to reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil as well as what they believe needs to happen to make the nation energy-independent.

The Energy Future Coalition is a broad-based, nonpartisan alliance that seeks to bridge the differences among business, labor, and environmental groups and identify energy policy options with broad political support. The coalition aims to bring about changes in U.S. energy policy to address the economic, security, and environmental challenges related to the production and use of fossil fuels with a compelling new vision of the economic opportunities that will be created by the transition to a new energy economy.

For more on the Energy Future Coalition visit: www.energyfuturecoalition.org

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