MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
The Chair and senior minority member in the Senate Environment Committee say that federal grants to aid in energy efficiency are available, but Missouri government is not accessing them.
Chair Kevin Engler says Missouri needs to place more importance on green issues.
| Actuality: ENGLER.WAV |
| Run Time: 00:15 |
| Description: Looking for energy efficiency grants is not a top priority. What we're saying is, 'Make it the top priority.' This is money that could be used on several fronts: one, to make us more energy efficient; two, to bring more money to use for educational purposes that doesn't have to be spent by the state. |
Engler has proposed a bill that requires at least 10% of the electricity used by state government to come from renewable energy sources by 2016.
This bill has passed from the House into the Senate.
Reporting from Jefferson City, I'm Rebecca Layne.
Intro: Two Missouri senators say low government priority and resistance from utility companies give environmental issues an uphill climb in Missouri. This topic was covered on the public television program, Jeff City Journal. Rebecca Layne has more from Jefferson City.
Missouri legislature has not yet organized to access energy-efficiency grants from the federal government, says Senate Environment Committee member Joan Bray.
Bray says that the failure to get federal grants, along with cost concerns and resistance from utility companies, is making it difficult for green issues to gain priority.
| Actuality: BRAY4.WAV |
| Run Time: 00:21 |
| Description: We really need to do something. Missouri has .5% of its energy produced through alternative sources. That's pathetic. So we really do have to make some extraordinary efforts in Missouri, and I think the utilities have resisted this. So I think it's going to take a little bit of muscle on our part to say, or the citizens part, whoever ends up doing it, to say 'This has got to be a priority.' |
Bray also stresses the importance of experimentation of alternative fuel sources in Missouri.
Reporting from Jefferson City, I'm Rebecca Layne.