Legalectric

Oh, Mikey, I remember when you used to publicly disclose who your boss was! Don’t you think it’s important, if you write a letter in the Northfield News about energy policy as “another sucker for Ray,” that the readers know you’re Governor Pawlenty’s Boy? From the Commerce Dept., an Executive agency, you moved over to the Governor’s office and spent this legislative session as the Governor’s in-house staff energy wonk, and that since the end of last month, you’re now Pawlenty’s Assistant Commissioner of Renewable Energy and Technology!

A week or two ago, I wrote a Northfield News Guest Column:

Mike made a couple comments here on this blog, scroll down to find them, and I cut and pasted one as its own post to make sure his comment was aired. I enjoy a worthy adversary and a few rounds in the ring! Here we go again!

Here’s the Letter to the Editor that Mike Bull, Governor Pawlenty’s Assistant Commissioner of Renewable Energy and Technology, wrote in the Northfield News, published in today’s paper:

Addressing misguided criticism

Community activists provide an important voice in policy debates at the state Capitol. However, a recent letter writer is misguided in their criticism of the 2005 Omnibus Energy bill and of Rep. Ray Cox for his support for that bill, (“Transmission bill is policy disaster,” June 1, 2005).

The 2005 Omnibus Energy bill reflects the governor’s guiding energy policies of promoting reliable, low-cost energy from environmentally superior sources; supports the development of community-based wind projects; provides incentives for utilities to build needed transmission facilities (both for reliability and renewable energy development); and keeps the state on track to have 20 percent of the electric energy used in the state come from renewable energy sources by 2015.

This consensus legislation was the result of a broad and deep coalition of environmentalists, utilities, business leaders, renewable energy developers, community wind activists, the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. In my 10 years at the Capitol working on energy legislation, I have never seen a coalition of this depth, breadth and commitment for such an important and far-reaching piece of legislation.

The vote on the House and Senate floors reflected that consensus — the bill passed the DFL-controlled Senate 62-0, and the Republican-controlled House 131-2.

Rep. Cox was rightly one of the 131 House members that voted for the legislation. Gov. Pawlenty proudly signed the bill with environmental and energy leaders from both parties and both legislative bodies standing with him.

Mike Bull
Northfield

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DISCLOSE, MIKE, DISCLOSE! Is this YOUR opinion, or Timmy’s? Is it part of your job to be a hired gun to finesse Ray Cox’s PR problems?

Mike and I both know that there’s a lot more to this bill than what we’ve said publicly. And we both know that this bill has nothing to do with the Renewable Energy Standard, which is not a part of this bill. Yes, Mike, we do need to have coffee soon and have a chat — think Blue Monday has enough room for the boxing ring?

p.s. As you recall, the RES amendment did not pass and is NOT part of the Transmission Omnibus Bill From Hell. Anyway, here’s what Ray had to say about his vote against the Renewable Energy Standard:

We had a bit of a ‘dust-off’ over an amendment from Rep. Aaron Peterson regarding a Renewable Energy Standard. It proposed requiring utility companies to include 20% of their energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. While this sounds like something I could support, I did not do so because I did not want to jeoprodize the passage of SF 1368.

That’s a telling vote that the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club ought to use on their legislative scorecards!