By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — A group of state lawmakers on Thursday filed three bills based on recommendations of the Governor’s Commission on Global Warming and said others are in the works.
The commission, created by an act of the Legislature in 2007, produced a report last year containing 54 recommendations for reducing Arkansas’ output of greenhouse gas emissions.
“The bills that we’re going to introduce today and the bills that we’re going to introduce next week are only some of the common-sense, consensus recommendations that came out of the Governor’s Commission on Global Warming. … When we get these bills passed, we’re going to put Arkansas at the forefront of the Southern states in terms of renewable energy, energy efficiency and job creation,” Rep. Kathy Webb, D-Little Rock, co-chairman of the commission, said at a news conference Thursday.
Webb filed House Bill 1633, a shell bill calling for the construction and renovation of state buildings through energy-efficient methods. Details of the measure are to be added later.
Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, filed Senate Bill 584, titled “The Energy Cost Savings Projects Finance Act of 2009.” The bill would authorize the issuance of up to $300 million in general obligation bonds to retrofit state buildings and school facilities to make them energy-efficient.
“Energy savings would be used to pay for all the costs for financing,” Broadway said.
Rep. Joan Cash, D-Jonesboro, filed House Bill 1677, titled “The Energy Efficiency Act of 2009.” The bill would require the Public Service Commission to establish energy efficiency standards for public utilities and expand existing programs designed to make businesses and homes more energy efficient.
“Energy efficiency is the least expensive way to meet growing electricity and natural gas demands, and it will also create many jobs,” Cash said.
Also in the pipeline are bills to create a timetable for assessing and retrofitting state buildings; allow electric cars and motorcycles to be driven on Arkansas streets and be regulated as cars; and authorize the Legislative Task Force on Sustainable Building Design and Practices to continue its work.
The legislative session is now in its seventh week. Webb said the bills were not filed earlier in the session because “as we have been involved in discussions about the stimulus money, some of our bills have been shifting.”
Some the commission’s recommendations do not require legislation. State Forester John Shannon said one of the commission’s recommendations was to plant 100,000 trees in the state every year.
“The easy part for us is providing the trees. We’ve got them,” Shannon said. “The difficult part is planting 100,000 trees by May 1 — that’s the target we’re looking for — and doing it every year until 2025.”
Some of the commission’s more controversial recommendations, including setting a moratorium on construction of coal-fired power plants, were not mentioned Thursday.
