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Nebraska Farmers Union
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1305 Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502 Contact John Hansen
Office: 402-476-8815, Fax:
402-476-8859, Cell:
402-890-8608 |
Nebraska Farmers
Union Calls For More Farmer
And Community
Ownership of Renewable Energy
May 25, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Omaha, NE. Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen said, “The State of Nebraska should aggressively prioritize farmer and community ownership of new ethanol and biodiesel plants, farmer and community-owned wind energy development, and utilization of carbon credits in order to get the maximum economic and environmental benefits for our state. Local ownership of renewable energy can not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce global warming, it can fuel badly needed rural economic development.” Hansen was a panelist at a town hall meeting at the Milo Bail Student Center at the University of Nebraska in Omaha entitled Do We Have An “Energy Future”?
Mayor Mike Fahey hosted the event that was sponsored by the National Council of Churches, Interchurch Ministries of Nebraska, National Resources Defense Council, and the College of Public Affairs and Community Service at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Joining Hansen on the panel discussion were Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Tim Wagner, Commissioner of the NE Department of Insurance, and Dan Lashof, Climate Center Science Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Dr. B.J. Reed, Dean of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service at UNO served as moderator.
Hansen noted that NE Farmers Union began public education on the benefits of “gasohol” in the mid 1960’s. “Farmers Union led the efforts to educate the public and public officials on the benefits of ethanol, get the Legislature to establish the NE Ethanol Board and authorize state incentive programs to create the modern ethanol industry. Fortunately, just when our fledgling ethanol industry needed help most, Governor Ben Nelson stepped up and provided the critical leadership necessary to champion the creation of the modern ethanol industry in Nebraska. Farmers Union worked with then Governor Nelson and his NE Department of Energy Director Bob Harris in the early 1990’s to explore research funding for cellulose as an ethanol fuel stock. We could see that cellulose for ethanol production could potentially create an even more energy and cost-efficient renewable fuel,” Hansen said.
“While Nebraska is currently ranked third in ethanol production, it will become second in the nation when the new plants currently under construction come on line. Yet, in our view, our state is in the early innings of the renewable energy development ballgame. Cellulose for ethanol is yet to be developed, biodiesel and soy diesel are just getting started, and despite the fact Nebraska is ranked 6th in wind energy resources, we are ranked 18th in wind energy development. Now is the logical time for our state to examine how to best maximize both the environmental and economic benefits from future renewable energy development,” Hansen said.
“Just as ‘location, location, and location’ are the top three factors in the value of real estate, ‘ownership, ownership, and ownership’ are the top three factors that decides who gets the primary economic benefits from renewable energy development. A quick look at the food sector tells us that while family farmers do most of the work, take most of the risks, and provide most of the skills to produce our nation’s food and fiber, it is the ag processors who capture the overwhelming bulk of the food sector profits. Rural Nebraska continues to suffer from a chronic economic crisis because family farmers do not get their fair share of the profits generated in the food economy. Farmers produce an abundance of high quality, safe, food, yet the average farm family in America does not receive enough net earned income to feed their own families, which is why 85% of all net farm family income comes from off farm jobs. In the future, as we develop our renewable energy, it is not enough to just make it possible for farmers and communities to participate in ownership, if we have the best interests of our state clearly in mind, we must put farmers and rural communities at the front of the line for ownership,” Hansen said.
“When the economic benefits of community and farmer-owned ethanol plants currently in operation in Nebraska are compared to the investor owned plants, local ownership validates what study after study has shown, local farmer and community ownership yields far more economic benefits. It stands to reason that locally owned profits are more likely to stay in the local communities. Those profits get reinvested to meet local needs, and serve as the capital base for additional rural economic development projects. Local ownership is, hands down, the most economically beneficial economic development model. When we combine renewable energy development and rural economic development, we get two enormous benefits to our society as a whole for the price of one,” Hansen said.
Hansen said Nebraska should take a page from the successful Minnesota wind energy development playbook and utilize the Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) model to complement our public power system. “Our state has reaped enormous benefits from our public power system. Our citizens get both extremely low rates, and great service for everyone in Nebraska, urban and rural alike. Farmers Union takes great pride in its historic role to create our state public power system, and we will continue to aggressively protect and defend public power at the state and national levels from attack. We believe that the C-BED community owned system should be used to harness all the private sector wind energy incentives, generate low cost renewable wind energy, send a slice of the rate payers money currently going to Wyoming for coal to rural Nebraska, and enhance public power. All the surveys on the subject show that Nebraska citizens overwhelming support the development of more wind energy, and the C-BED model is the most economically beneficial and responsible way to proceed,” Hansen concluded.
Nebraska Farmers Union is the state’s second largest and oldest general farm organization representing over 5,300 farm and ranch families and rural communities. The mission of Nebraska Farmers Union is to improve the economic well being and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, and their rural communities.
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