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Snyder Talks Up 'Fixing Michigan' in Chelsea

As a retired state of Michigan worker, Jeannie Aten of Chelsea was concerned that Rick Snyder was going to get rid of her health benefits.

"If you are," Aten told the GOP gubernatorial candidate at his first town hall since winning the primary, "I'm not going to vote for you."

About 180 people filled an old train depot Tuesday in Chelsea and fired questions at Snyder ranging from what to do about unions to how to handle tax subsidies for businesses.

Aten said after the meeting that she voted for Andy Dillon in the Democrat primary for governor and her husband voted for Peter Hoekstra in the GOP race.

"When it (the primary) was over, we looked at each other and said, 'Back to the drawing board,'" Aten said.

And that was Snyder's message, too.

"Fixing Michigan is not good enough," Snyder said. "It's time to reinvent the state."

Snyder handled Aten's question by saying that there needed to be a "discussion" on state retiree health care.

"What is financially affordable?" Snyder asked.

Snyder spoke on a myriad of topics for about an hour.

He said the state's current method of economic development "was not the way to do it."

The state was picking "winners and losers" by favoring industries and "overusing incentives like popcorn and candy," Snyder said.

The incentives should be scaled back and be used to create a competitive playing field and then let the free market take over, he said.

"We sort of lost our way," he noted.

Snyder called "right to work" legislative "extremely divisive" and said  "it is not on my agenda." He said it was the equivalent to a "World War III discussion."

He believes that public employee compensation is one of the toughest issues facing the next governor.

"Is it financially affordable?" Snyder asked. "What is it comparable to in the private sector? If you can't check those boxes, we need to have a discussion."

Snyder said the one question that gets the fastest response from public employees is when he asks them what their retirement date is.

He blamed the poor morale of the public-sector workforce on bureaucracy and poor management, and told the crowd that if he had a business where all the employees were looking at their retirement date, "I would feel like a failure."

Snyder dodged a question from a public school employee about school funding. He told him that the state had to take a "step back" and look at what was the underlying reason for having an education system. He said the state needs to look at how it deals with academics, how it rewards successful teachers and how to minimize overhead.

"We need to invest in our education system," Snyder said.

In the end, Aten said Snyder has won her vote.

"I liked his answers," Aten said after the meeting. "I think he has a good feel for what has to be done. And something has to be done."

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

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Analysis: Low-Carbon Fuel Standard a Gift to Ethanol Lobby

A low-carbon fuel standard is being pushed by some in Congress, including Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, as a way to lower greenhouse gas emissions. A low-carbon fuel standard will do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it is a gift to the ethanol lobby.

A low carbon fuel standard sets a limit on greenhouse gas emissions from both the production and consumption of transportation fuel. Low-carbon fuel standards require a life cycle analysis of petroleum-based fuels and the creation of a standard for reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy from the production and use of those fuels. While the idea may sound good in theory, it provides significant problems in practice.

Implementation of a low-carbon fuel standard will likely result in increasing the amount of corn-based ethanol in gasoline due to the fact that there are currently no other large-scale commercially available alternatives available to American refiners to meet the standards. Studies of the production of corn-based ethanol for fuel raise serious questions regarding the fuels' ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Without question, using corn to produce fuel has serious negative economic and environmental consequences.

In their study "Economics of a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard," authors Michael Canes and Edward Murphy estimate that a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from low-carbon fuel would result in increased gasoline prices of 61 cents per gallon. There are also negative environmental consequences of producing more corn-based ethanol to meet low carbon fuel standards, especially when forest and grass land is converted to corn production, which is both energy intensive and requires extensive use of fertilizers. Using corn for ethanol production also raises the cost of food.

Proponents of a low-carbon fuel standard often site national security concerns in addition to environmental concerns as a justification for its adoption. A low-carbon fuel standard may actually make us more dependent, not less, on Mideast oil. Canada is the number one exporter of crude oil to the United States. A low-carbon fuel standard could make it difficult for us to use oil derived from the extensive deposits of oil sands in Canada. Other countries, including China, are more than anxious to take oil derived from high-carbon life cycle oil sands in Canada. If we refuse to import oil derived from oil sands in Canada, it will result in more imports of oil from the Mideast. Michigan could also benefit economically from development of Canadian oil sands due to its proximity to Canada which would make the state an economically attractive location for processing and distribution, providing much needed jobs.

According to a report from the Marshall Institute titled "National Security, Energy Security, and a Low Carbon Fuel Standard," the western United States posses enough oil shale to meet current American import levels for 110 years. Elected leaders who claim to care about national energy security should be encouraging the development of these important energy resources rather than passing laws like the low-carbon fuel standard that would make those reserves off limits.

For the time being, cap-and-trade may be dead in Congress but other legislation, such as the low-carbon fuel standard, is still being pushed. It should be seen for what it is - an energy tax on Americans that will make us more dependent on Mideast oil and will likely do more harm than good to the environment.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.