Three state representatives are asking Gov. Jim Doyle for a cost estimate for his proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act, which aims to curb global warming in Wisconsin.
Doyle said in his State of the State Address that he hopes to generate 25 percent of Wisconsin's energy from renewable sources by 2025, reduce energy consumption by 2 percent by 2015 and create more than 15,000 clean energy jobs in Wisconsin.
State Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, state Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Green Bay, and state Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, said Doyle has yet to provide answers to a series of fiscal questions submitted two weeks ago. Montgomery said he did not expect the cost estimates soon.
""When you do the cost-benefit analysis of this, the numbers are so horrific and so burdensome to the [tax]payers of Wisconsin that they would say no,"" Montgomery said. ""That is why [Doyle's committee] is doing this in a smoke-filled backroom.""
Adam Collins, Doyle's spokesperson, said accusations about backroom dealing are not true.
""This has been a very open discussion,"" Collins said. ""The Clean Energy Jobs Act was created based on the recommendation of the taskforce on climate change.""
According to Collins, this taskforce included manufacturers, business leaders, industry experts, and Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a conservative-leaning polling group, reported that moving to 25 percent reliance on renewable energy by 2025 would cost the state between $13.9 billion and $16.2 billion. Republican lawmakers cited statistics from the WPRI report claiming this legislation would compromise 43,000 Wisconsin jobs.
Collins said these findings are inaccurate.
""There is something that was put out there a few months ago that makes this claim that [state Rep. Jeff] Fitzgerald [R-Horicon] references, but that is not based on elements that are even in this legislation,"" Collins said. ""It has been widely discredited.""
Collins said the WPRI numbers are based on national legislation, not the proposals in Doyle's bill.
Despite some opposition, Collins said he hopes the legislation passes before Doyle's final term as governor ends.
