I wish to offer clarifications to the editorial Great mills, great times (04/06/2006).
For more than a decade, Ann Arbor has been recognized as the leading city in Michigan in energy conservation and innovation. City conservation efforts have saved taxpayers millions of dollars, and these efforts continue today. Ann Arbor is the first city in the United States to move to light-emitting diode streetlights. This technology will allow us to light the streets while using 60 percent less electricity.
The city already produces 24 percent of the electricity needed to operate streetlights, water and sewage treatment, buildings, etc. Much of this comes from capturing methane gas from an old landfill, and the rest comes from hydroelectricity. The city energy office worked with the private sector to establish bio-diesel fueling stations in our area, and city vehicles have been running on B20 (20 percent bio-fuel) for some time. This summer, we will be shifting to B50. There is great potential to grow bio-fuels in the Greenbelt.
Last summer, I asked my staff to begin research into how we could make even greater use of renewable energy, specifically wind power. We began talks with Noble Environmental Power about purchasing wind-generated electricity for Ann Arbor.
Last September, I issued the Mayor's Green Energy Challenge, setting a goal for city government to use 20-percent renewable energy by 2010 along with a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas production. For the city as a whole, I set a goal to use 20 percent renewable energy by 2015. In December, we invited the University to join us in a green energy purchasing partnership. Since November, we have been working with executives of DTE Energy toward the goal of moving wind-generated energy across its grid to light and power our city.
In February, the City Energy Commission submitted an excellent progress report, and I raised the bar to 30 percent renewable energy for city government by 2010. Last month, City Council passed a resolution calling for Michigan to follow the lead of 22 other states and establish a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard to move our state forward.
City government can reach 30 percent renewable energy by 2010 without wind power from Michigan's Thumb, but with it, we can make even greater strides.
I greatly appreciate the Daily's advocacy for renewable energy. Michigan will soon need more electricity, and there is tremendous potential for wind energy in our state. The question is not simply should we build windmills, but rather: Should we build two more mercury-spewing, greenhouse-gas producing, coal-fired plants, two new nuclear plants or clean, green windmills?

Hieftje is the mayor of Ann Arbor and an adjunct professor in the School of Public Policy.