SLEEPY EYE - A group of Springfield High School students discussed their award-winning efforts to promote renewable energy, conservation and climate change Friday at an energy forum at the Brown County REA auditorium.

Directed by John Ryan, the Springfield Youth Energy Summit (YES) team won $2,000 in prize money for the grand prize and carbon footprint awards in 2008-2009 Energy Action Project contests sponsored by the Southwest Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

The team's goals were to minimize waste and fossil fuel dependence plus increase energy awareness.

Elementary students took part in a carbon footprint educational challenge contest by surveying the electrical footprint of each student's home.

Students took turns emptying school plastics and aluminum recycling bins, created a school lunch food waste compost program using red worms, initiated a high school building energy audit and hosted a Springfield Home and Garden Show exhibit.

At the forum, students said energy could be saved by shortening showers, turning off and unplugging some appliances when not in use, using motion-sensitive lights in school locker and rest rooms.

"That's a super project. It's fun to hear what you're doing," said Brown County Administrator Chuck Enter.

Bob Crabtree, member services director at Brown County REA said a number of county residential geo-thermal projects have taken advantage of tax credits plus state and federal grants.

Projects ranged in cost from $14k-$52k.

"Realize we must take care of our land and water, but pay backs are important before doing a project," Crabtree said. "Less-expensive project pay backs are 6-7 years and double that long for more expensive ones."

Sleepy Eye Street and Utility Supt. Bob Elston said some recently-proposed legislation would require utilities to buy back "green" (wind and solar) power at what he called excessively high rates.

"Common sense must be considered too." Elston said. "Adding CFL (compact florescent lights) to your kitchen will save you more than in a closet."

Brown County REA General Manager Wade Hensel said cap and trade (aka emission trading) legislation (an administrative approach to control pollution with economic incentives) are really carbon taxes.

"The current Senate (cap and trade) bill is better than the House version, which would allow huge investor-owned East and West Coast utilities to make huge profits at the expense of us here in the midwest," said Hensel. "Cap and trade is really a huge new federal tax," he added.

Hensel said although it's currently illegal to build them here, Minnesota needs more nuclear power plants and renewable energy but that a huge, new tax is not needed.

"This could cause huge power cost increases to change people's behavior (to conserve energy), Elston said. "Is there any reason to believe Wall Street will get this right and keep traders and speculators out of it?"

"Don't believe everything you hear," Hensel said. "It all boils down to money. Follow the money."

For more information, he suggested visiting the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at www/epri.com.

The EPRI is an independent, non-profit firm funded by the U.S. electrical power industry to perform public electrical research, development and design.

Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.