From the Associated Press — A group is launching a ballot drive to boost the use of renewable sources of energy in Michigan. The initiative announced Monday would raise the renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2030. Michigan now requires electric providers to produce 15 percent of their power from wind or other renewable sources by the end of 2021. Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan needs nearly 253,000 valid signatures. If the Republican-controlled Legislature did not pass the bill, it would go to a statewide vote in November. Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer’s NextGen America group is backing the measure. The Board of State Canvassers will consider the petition’s form Tuesday. Michigan voters in 2012 rejected a ballot initiative that would have ordered utilities to produce 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
