August 11, 2009 | For Immediate Release
Contact: Sara Craig (515) 669-7019
Rants: Culver Needs to be Straight With Iowans
SIOUX CITY, IA – Rep. Chris Rants released the following in response to the latest controversy surrounding the number of jobs created by the Power Fund.
"Governor Culver has a problem with numbers; either he isn’t keeping accurate account of jobs in the state or he is willing to fabricate facts and figures for campaign purposes. I am not sure what is worse, having a governor who is unable to keep an accurate account of jobs funded by state dollars, or a governor who deliberately misleads Iowans trying to give a false sense of security. Either way, Governor Culver needs to be straight with Iowans about how their tax dollars are being spent."
The latest example of Culver's inflated numbers is the controversy over number of jobs created by the Power Fund.
"There is some interesting research going on at our universities," said Rants "but it isn't creating jobs today. Certainly not the numbers Culver claims and it's easy to prove. If you take the list of projects provided by his office last week and call the recipients to ask how many people are employed, the numbers don't add up to more than a hundred."
"What is at issue is not whether or not the Power Fund is good or bad, it is that Culver is not being straight with Iowans. Iowans need a Governor who will always tell them the truth, no matter what."
Culver's claim:
Lee Enterprises: Culver said up to $50 million in Iowa Power Fund investments have already created about 8,700 jobs in the green-technology sector and pushed Iowa to the forefront of renewable energy nationally.
Associated Press: "That's an outdated report," Culver said Thursday. "What we know today is about 8,700 jobs have been created in Iowa in the green technology sector, in part because of the Power Fund."
Associated Press: Asked how many jobs could be attributed to the Power Fund, the governor said "certainly thousands of jobs."
Culver's Reality:
Cellencor Inc. – 3-4 research jobs.
ISU, Clean Gasification Platform for Renewable Power – (no response)
UNI, Annual Iowa Energy Poll – 0 Jobs.
RENEW Energy Systems, mobile solid biomass briquette plant – (no response)
UNI, Determining Maximum Sustainable Production of Biomass with Mixture of Prairie Species – (no response)
Green Plains Renewable Energy and Bioprocess Algae LLC – 5 employees.
Poet Project Liberty – 0 jobs have been created to date, construction on the cellulose plant has not yet started.
UNI, Development of Less Expensive Dye Sensitized Solar Cells – (no response)
Iowa Stored Energy Park – 8-10 temporary jobs.
ISU, Efficient, Low Cost, Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion – (no response)
UNI, Novel Hydrogen Storage Materials for Fuel Cell Application – (no response)
Novecta, LLC, Utilizing Glycerol in Swine and Poultry – few research jobs during research project, project is complete. 0 permanent jobs as a result.
I-Renew, Energy and Sustainability EXPO – “small staff”
Renewable Energy Group, Biodiesel Research Center – 5-6 researchers working on Power Fund project.
TPI Iowa LLC, Wind Blade Advanced Manufacturing Initiative – (no response)
Amana Farms, Amana Renewable Energy Project – (no response)
AmeriCorps/Green Corps Program, Volunteer Iowa has the contract (even though it states DED/DNR) – 56 AmeriCorps Jobs
City of Fairfield, Making Iowa’s Cities Sustainable – 1 job
ISU, Increasing the use of distillers grains in livestock diets, decreasing the impact of insoluble fiber, antibiotics, and sulfate in swine, poultry and cattle diets – (no response)
Carbon Free Energy, LLC, Vertical Wind Turbine Manufacturer – (no response)
City of Cedar Rapids, 21st Century Green Energy Project – (no response)
Consumers Energy Cooperative, Plug-in Electric Hybrid – 0 jobs created. Bought a Toyota Prius and took it to Minnesota to be retrofitted for electric plug in.
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