Whiz was definitely feeling the pinch. He was bleeding energy dollars to the tune of $14.5 billion annually. Fourteen billion bucks each year to truck in coal and oil products. But what choice did he have? He had to have energy to get anything done; it was a worry, but what else could he do?
After a sleepless night, Whiz Connzin, knew he needed help and decided to see Les Savesomm, a financial planner. That afternoon Whiz laid it all out. “Without fossil fuel resources of my own, I’m constantly buying fuel from other states. My energy production deficit is one of the biggest of any state in the country!” Whiz complained.
Les took notes then rifled through his files and pulled out a report and tossed on the desk in front of Whiz. “What you need is COWS,” Les declared. “Cows?” Whiz cried unbelievingly. “That’s the best you can do? I’ve already got cows LOTS of cows!”
“Oh sorry,” Les apologized, “I don’t mean mooing cows. I mean COWS (Center On Wisconsin Strategy), the UW Madison research institute. They’ve recently released a report that just may have the answers you’re looking for.”
Whiz poured over the report that night. “Holy COWS!” Whiz smiled, “Look at the money I could save by transitioning to in-state wind and solar energy sources and an all-electric economy.”
- Lower Total Energy Use - Electric equipment is more efficient than combustion engines and conversion loss is also reduced.
- Jobs - 162,000 energy-related jobs would be created.
- Larger GDP - In-state energy expenditures would increase Wisconsin’s GDP by $14 billion.
- Higher Tax Revenues – An increase of approximately $560 million
- Lower CO2 Emissions - Environmental benefits worth $4.5 billion and the reduced air pollution would avoid $21 billion in health care costs.
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