A group of 27 former Cabinet members, White House aides and lawmakers is warning Congress and both presidential candidates that the country is driving head-on into "a long-term energy crisis."

The bipartisan group, which includes Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell, wrote in a letter that the nation "must re-examine outdated and entrenched positions" and politicians must rise above partisan differences.

The letter urges lawmakers to promote energy efficiency and reduce consumption. It suggests increasing commitments to nuclear and renewable energy sources, making coal more environmentally acceptable and moving transportation away from oil as a fuel.

The letter was the idea of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, which has embraced largely Republican approaches to energy problems. But the institute's president says there's an "energy tsunami" coming and the United States risks getting crushed by it.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paper product power After missing out twice before, a northern Wisconsin biofuels project got word Monday that it will receive significant federal funding for the state's emerging renewable energy industry.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $30 million for the $84 million biorefinery proposed at the Flambeau River Papers mill in Park Falls. Executives there said the federal grant will speed the start-up of a refinery for renewable sulfur-free diesel fuel made from forest byproducts. The company expects to produce 6 million gallons of transportation fuel a year in 2010.

Masood Akhtar, president of CleanTech Partners of Madison, a consultant working with Flambeau, sees the biorefinery concept as a way for struggling paper mills to find another product to sell. For the nation's leading papermaking state, it provides a route into new forms of energy production.

The DOE also has granted an estimated $125 million to help establish the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to develop next-generation biofuels that don't come from corn, soybeans or other foods.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel