The 7th largest GHG Emitter in the world (if it were a country)...

... would be the Midwest region of the United States. I didn't know that until yesterday. I also didn't know that the region has the highest GHG emissions of any of the major regional cap and trade programs recently built in the US (ReGGI, WCI), and per capita, it has a higher rate of GHG emissions than either coast. It's also dependent on coal, much like the rest of the world, for its energy production, and not surprisingly, it is rich in coal resources. And, to top it all off it's also a bedrock of American agriculture and productivity - meaning that the Midwest's Senators are squarely in the crosshairs of the national climate debate. In short, the Midwest's elected representatives can make or break the 60 vote majority needed to pass any legislation that regulates and reduces emissions. It's the heartland alright.

It's a very, very good thing therefore that people like Rolf Nordstrom live up there.

Five years ago Nordstrom, Executive Director of the Great Plains Institute in Minneapolis, started working on the Powering the Plains Project, an energy road map for the Midwest that would change the debate from one about the costs of energy transition to one about the opportunities of energy transition, and how the Midwest could capitalize on its renewable energy potential. Yesterday afternoon, he spoke to the participants of Session 454 and laid out the fundamental strategies, challenges, and successes of PTP.

And, clearly the opportunities for energy transition in the Midwest are as vast as the plains themselves. They have it all up there, the whole slew of renewables, plus a whole as of yet untapped vast and perennial grassland that is the Dakotas. They also, of course, have coal and oil. Amazingly, coal and oil account for more than 2/3 of the total emissions in the midwest, and more amazingly, the 28 largest electrical power generating facilities (out of 700) account for more than 50% of the total emissions in that sector. So, as Nordstrom points out, the targets are fairly straightforward: rapidly pursue and deploy low-carbon technologies in the electricity sector, invest heavily and quickly in CCS, and deploy low-carbon technologies in the transportation sector. Sounds easier than it is, of course, and of course, it doesn't sound that easy at all. However, the strategy and structure for the Powering the Plains project is impressive, and though I won't go into the details here (there is a general structure from Nordstrom below), the plan itself seems comprehensive in its approach to whole quiver of strategies and technologies ranging from efficiency, to coal with CCS, wind, biomass, hydropower, nuclear power, and hydrogen & fuel cells.

Powering The Plains
Tier I: Preamble and Guiding Principles

Tier II: Goals, Objectives & Policy Options:
1. Efficiency
2. Renewable electricity
3. Advanced coal with CCS, and
4. Bio-based Products and Transportation

Tier III: 6 Cooperative Regional Initiatives
1. CO2 Mgmt. Infrastructure Partnership
2. Low-Carbon Energy Transmission Infrastructure
3. Transmission Adequacy Initiative
4. BioProduct Procurement Program
5. Advanced BioEnergy Facility Permitting Collaborative
6. Renewable Fuels Corridors and Common Signage

Tier IV: GHG Accord via Cap & Trade
• Midwest equivalent of RGGI and Western Climate Initiative
• IA, IL, KS, MI, MN and WI & Province of Manitoba as full signatories
• IN, OH SD and province of Ontario as observers