LANSING – Governor Jennifer Granholm said Friday Michigan’s focus on alternative and renewable energy is a reason she was asked to moderate a town hall forum at the Democratic National Convention on those issues. The state has not yet acted on an energy package she proposed earlier this year, but she ripped Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) as being the “one man” standing in the way of bipartisan action.

The governor had repeatedly urged the Legislature to act on the energy package, including a renewable energy portfolio standard and revising utility regulation this summer, but the House has met rarely and Senate leaders are now planning action when the Legislature resumes sessions September 9.

Granholm was asked on Thursday by presidential candidate Barack Obama’s team to lead the town hall session on Tuesday evening from the convention, where a variety of experts will weigh in on alternative and renewable energy.

“Michigan was selected because of our push for alternative and renewable energy sources,” Granholm said. It will be a rare moment in the spotlight for Michigan at the convention, whose only other listed speaker is U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing). “The Obama people are well aware Michigan is a swing state,” Granholm said. “They know the election goes through here.”

“One man is standing in the way,” Granholm said of Bishop regarding final action on HB 5524 . “We got a bipartisan package out of the House.”

She said she talked to Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who has launched a national advertising campaign promoting construction of wind energy turbines, and asked him to write a letter to Bishop on the renewable energy issue.

Meetings have been held on a regular basis on developing a Senate response to the House-passed bill, and officials say they are getting close as they try to address ways to mitigate costs to consumers and businesses of the $6 billion-$8 billion cost associated with a mandated renewable energy standard.

Some Republicans have indicated they could support the proposal if it comes with business or income tax cuts.

Bishop spokesperson Matt Marsden said any failure to reach agreement to date on the package can be traced to inadequate leadership by the governor, who he said has not spoken to the Senate leader about the issue since June. “She is far more concerned with how it looks when she arrives at the Democratic convention than in trying to arrive at a genuine bipartisan agreement,” he said.

Marsden also noted the Senate has passed its own bill (SB 213 ) on renewable portfolio standards. “We’re not standing in the way of anything,” he said. “All we’re trying to do is to mitigate costs to consumers and to businesses. This is important legislation for Michigan’s future and it shouldn’t be rushed because the Democratic convention is on the horizon.”

On other convention-related topics, Granholm said Obama needs to get to be more well-known among middle class voters as part of his effort to shore up support among labor unions. “This is part of what the convention is all about,” she said.

But she expressed concern that race will become an elevated issue in the campaign as Obama seeks to become the first African-American to win the presidency. She said she expects ads against Obama linking him to his former pastor of 20 years, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, which she would be race-based.

“I believe Michigan voters are smart and can make those decisions, but I am concerned there will be efforts to be divisive when Obama is trying to bridge differences,” Ms. Granholm said.

Granholm, who had supported New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination, said she hopes there will be one ballot to nominate Obama. “Everybody needs to unite behind our nominee,” she said.

She refused to offer an opinion on whether Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should be allowed to attend the convention, something he cannot do under current bond restrictions that will be reviewed on Monday. Kilpatrick is a superdelegate selected by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Granholm is postponing her arrival at the convention until Tuesday in order to review final arguments by Kilpatrick and the Detroit City Council on its request that she remove him from office. She has tentatively scheduled a hearing in Detroit on September 3, depending on her resolution of the mayor’s motions to postpone or dismiss the action.

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