MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon is stepping in the ring to fight for Michigan's economy and environment.

Last week, Simon spoke at the state's first bio-economy summit about MSU's role in building Michigan's bio-economy.

"We do not have either a strong manufacturing economy or a strong agricultural economy — they're not mutually exclusive. If we can find the synergies between the two of those, Michigan will be a leader," Simon said.

Honoring the agricultural tradition of MSU, the goal is to push our state into the 21st century by combining agriculture and technology to produce energy, fuel and certain products by way of organic materials.

We've already got Gov. Jennifer Granholm doing her part to push biodiesel pumps into Michigan; it makes sense the head of a university, who is keen on research and technology, should sign up for the cause as well.

This August, Granholm announced a fund of $250,000 to help convert gasoline pumps to alternative fuel pumps. That money should translate to 1,000 pumps being installed or converted by 2008, according the governor.

Hopefully, with more prominent local faces — like Simon — jumping on the bio-economy bandwagon, this futuristic, environmentally friendly economy will become a reality for Michigan citizens and job seekers.

In a state known for its automotive manufacturing and agriculture, this is a logical step to help change the economy in Michigan.

The automotive industry isn't what it was 40 years ago, and we shouldn't fool ourselves into believing it will be that way again. Corn is abundant in Michigan and is used in producing ethanol, which makes up 85 percent of the alternative fuel E85 and could benefit our economy.

Summits, like the one Simon spoke at last week, open up a dialogue about Michigan's struggling economy, but there is a much greater benefit that even surpasses a bio-economy — a healthier environment.

While President Bush has promised to break our "oil addiction" in the past, we can help ourselves by supporting research to advance Michigan's bio-economy.

The proposed bio-economy sounds too good to be true, but in reality, it isn't that far out of reach. If Simon, Granholm and other proponents continue to financially support this kind of research and development, we should soon benefit from a better, healthier economy.