2008 Missouri Legislative Session Green Report
Volume 14 Issue 2 January 2008
Slow
Start to 2008 Missouri Legislative Session Hinders Energy Bills Despite Legislators’
Interest
Since the Missouri State Legislature began its 2008 Session in early January,
many bills dealing with energy issues have been filed. Many of them are supported
by the Sierra Club. However, most have made little progress through the legislative
process because of the slow pace of activity. High gasoline prices and increasing
public concern about global warming have to date caused little movement to
pass these energy bills. 2008 being an election year may be one factor. Passage
of the Easy Connection Act, which combined net metering with renewable energy
targets, was a significant victory in 2007. There is still adequate time to
achieve additional victories on the energy front in 2008 despite the slow
start. The last day of the 2008 Session is Friday May 16.
To track environmental legislation you can use the Sierra Club legislative tracking report available on the internet to follow the progress of bills of interest. Go to www.missouri.sierraclub.org and then click on track legislation in the upper right area of the website. Clicking on the bill number in the report connects you to the state legislative website for specific information on the bill.
| 2008 Missouri General Assembly – Environmental Bills of Interest Sierra Club Position: S = Support, QS = Qualified Support, O = Opposed, I = Bill of interest
Compiled on April
19, 2008 |
Green Lobby Day
a Success
On Tuesday February 26 the Sierra Club, along with the Missouri Coalition
for the Environment and Missouri Votes Conservation, organized a Conservation
Lobby Day. We had approximately 30 co-sponsors for the event. Over 100 people
participated, an increase compared to prior lobby day events in recent years.
There were issue briefings and then some tips for meeting with your state
senators and representatives for those with less experience meeting with elected
officials. However, many of the attendees were quite familiar with how to
influence their legislators.
Green Building/Energy Conservation Legislation
There is considerable interest in enacting measures to increase the use of
renewable energy sources and reduce utilization of fossil fuels which contribute
to global climate change. More and more people are coming to understand the
need to conserve energy and reduce climate change-causing emissions. Legislators
are starting to recognize this as well. Several bills which would establish
a renewable energy standard for power plants and measures to encourage the
use of “green” building technologies, among other energy-related
measures, had a hearing in the Senate Commerce, Energy, and Environment Committee
on March 6. Since then several Senators including Committee Chairman Kevin
Engler, Jeff Smith, and Joan Bray have been working to come up with language
for a green building/energy conservation bill that could make it through the
legislative process. On April 10 SB1100, SB1262, and SB1263 were combined
into SB1181 and voted out of the Committee do pass. Then on April 17 SB1181
reported out and listed on the perfection calendar for Senate floor debate.Other
legislators are also interested in green building legislative proposals, include
Representa-tives Judy Baker, Jason Holsman, and Shane Schoeller. Other energy
bills have been introduced in the 2008 Session, however many have seen little
action to date.
Energy Efficiency
Coming out of the settlement agreement between Sierra Club and Kansas City
Power & Light, SB1277 was introduced by Senator Delbert Scott. The bill’s
goal was to encourage utility investments in energy efficiency and conservation.
However there were some concerns that the bill’s language could lead
to weakening of the Public Service Commission’s ability to control rates
charged consumers of electricity and natural gas. After having a hearing on
April 10 in the Senate Commerce, Energy, and Environment Committee, on April
17 that Committee declined to vote do pass on SB1277, thereby killing the
bill. Further work on energy efficiency legislative language is needed so
a revised bill can be brought back for the 2009 Session.
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Family farmers, local government officials, and environmentalists continue to guard against legislation that would take away counties’ ability to regulate large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). However, we know that this and other related agricultural issues will need attention in the 2008 Session. One such issue is giving subsidies to large CAFOs to help them with their costs of controlling their pollution. We believe such costs should be part of the expenses of operating these polluting facilities. During the 2008 Session local control allies are closely monitoring the legislative process, and planning appropriate activities such as lobby days and other lobbying tactics. Several bills have CAFO subsidy language as part of larger agriculture-related bills. We are working to remove the subsidy provisions from these bills. The message to legislators is that we do not want big factory farms subsidized to the detriment of family farmers and the environment.
By Roy C. Hengerson