Rep. Dave Prestin spoke with more than 100 people Tuesday at a townhall event in Escanaba. Prestin was joined by Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, and Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, to talk about green energy legislation recently signed by the governor.

“It’s hard to find a silver lining in the energy future of the Upper Peninsula when the governor is levying a full-scale assault on our energy reliability and affordability,” said Prestin, R-Cedar River. “Days like Tuesday give us hope that we can reverse bad policies and deliver for Yoopers. We’re less than a week from Christmas, yet we’re still able to fill a room with people willing to spend an evening talking about energy. The public isn’t going to roll over and pay more for less reliability. This legislation cannot stand. The U.P. is far from having an energy surplus and our industries are energy intensive. We need to use the best available technology and practices to protect our vulnerable U.P. industries and jobs, not fulfill an environmentalist wish list.”

Much of the conversation Tuesday focused on the local impact of the energy legislation. Experts project average monthly electric bills could nearly double under the plan that forces Michigan to be 100 percent reliant on green energy by 2040. Less than five years after passing green energy mandates, California backtracked and embraced natural gas power plants after experiencing dramatic rate increases and widespread blackouts resulting from renewable energy. While rising electric costs are a factor, Prestin said it is just one piece of the larger puzzle.

“This fight is not about climate change or proving someone else wrong; this is about our people, their jobs, and the industries that support our fragile U.P. economy,” Prestin said. “Labor is worried that their employers will be faced with a no-win situation that ultimately costs the Upper Peninsula everything it has worked so hard to achieve in timber, mining, and agriculture. Our schools are holding on by their fingernails and the last thing they need is decreased affordability.  Families who cannot afford generators are facing the reality that they may be left without power in some of the harshest environments. Radical climate activists are celebrating with the governor, but everyday people are bracing for the cold and expensive winters ahead.”

Rep. Prestin is encouraging residents who could not attend the townhall or have input on the energy issue to contact his office at (517)-373-0156 or email [email protected].