posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 10:41 AM by Andrea Robinson

EPA, Midwestern Blue Skyways Collaborative to Promote Renewable Power

The US EPA and several Midwestern states have formed a collaborative to begin curbing polluting emissions through voluntary measures.  The "Blue Skyways Collaborative" held its inaugural meeting last month, welcoming a diverse group of participants including representatives from EPA, the Departments of Defense and Energy, state and local officials, and corporate representatives.  It is spearheaded by the Central States Air Resource Agencies (CenSARA), the regional air planning organization for the Midwest, comprising Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.   

The Collaborative hopes to reduce emissions along major Midwestern transportation corridors and in various sectors, including aviation, water and rail transport, on-road diesel vehicles, and heavy off-road equipment, through retrofitting diesel-powered vehicles and encouraging renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.  A focus on renewable power sources sets this initiative apart from other regional voluntary emissions-reducing efforts, and reflects the regional economic interest of Collaborative participants in spurring use of ethanol and biodiesel, both of which derive from corn and other regional crops.   

While it has yet to establish numerical emissions reduction targets, the Collaborative's first meeting showcased the types of voluntary efforts and public-private initiatives that it hopes to foster.  For example, railroad industry representatives described their efforts to replace diesel-burning switch-engines with battery-operated engines.  The EPA has promised a modest $9 million to finance the Collaborative's projects this year, and the group anticipates several times that amount for 2007 financing.  Whether Blue Skyways proves successful likely will depend on whether this federal funding materializes ¾ a questionable proposition in light of the Administration's and Congress' recent failures to adequately fund the clean energy initiatives that they only recently enacted in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.