Help Me Improve a Letter to Sens. Pryor and Lincoln

by sustainable

Subject: Please support Clean Renewable Energy Companies in Arkansas through the extension of Treasury Grant Program 1603 and 48c Clean Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit because "Renewable Energy is Homeland Security"

(The following is freely ripped off, rewritten and combined from emails of suggested letters to politicians compiled by Arkansas Business Leaders for a Clean Economy and Infocast)

Dear Senator _,

I believe that Treasury Grant Program 1603 and 48c Clean Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit are critical to the continuing development of solar power, wind power, and other forms of renewable energy, which are important to the secure economic and environmental future of the United States of America. The ability to create these clean renewable power sources, however, is being seriously threatened by the lapsing of key U.S. government supports of the Treasury 1603 (Treasury Grant) program and the 48c Clean Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, originating in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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Add Solar / Wind to Tax Cut ... a call for action

by A Siegel

You can count me among the millions not happy with the caving to give additional tax subsidies the unneedy rich.  With this deal, however, unless blocked, the true pain is wondering what we could -- or should -- have gotten in return.  

Why isn't there $200 billion (or, better yet, $500 billion) or so for stimulus in the coming 24 months. There won't be anything coming out of the R House that will stimulate job creation. The Administration should have gotten some on the table and in this deal.  
   
Staying within tax cuts and policy, why not include in clean-energy tax credits.  To provide one clear example, why not extend Section 1603 (action item)?  

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US Green Energy Fail

by Steven D

Here's we in the United States should be doing now to keep up with the rest of the world's investment in research and development of green energy technologies:

The United States needs to more than triple its spending on energy research, development and demonstration projects, from about $5 billion now to $16 billion, and should review  national energy policy every four years, an advisory group of scientists and engineers said in a report to President Obama this week.

The US is falling behind almost every other major developed country in the world.  Look at this chart from 2007 that shows R & D spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product:

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No Meta, just good news

by Jerome a Paris

As you know, I'm firmly (and rightly or wrongly) in the camp of those who are seriously disappointed with our current crop of leftwing politicians and who are quite pessimistic about the short term economic outlook. One of my diaries from this summer (Judging Obama) still sums up my views on the divide within the community and the positions of both sides.

One of the results of this mood of disappointment has been an inability to get worked up lately about politics, and to write anything much.

Another reason for my silence has been that I've been inordinately (and thankfully) busy at work. As you may remember, I created my own company earlier this year, after 15 years in the banking world, to help developers find money to build their renewable energy projects, in particular in the offshore wind sector where I've been involved in the past 5 years.

Well, I'm pleased to announce that the first transaction to happen with my new company's help was signed last week last week.

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Energy policy will change under GOP House Dr. Daniel Fine

by finehelen10

With the Republican Party's newly won control of the House of Representatives, national energy policy could be rolled back to 2005, with all legislative advances under a Democratic Party majority at risk.

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China stops our Green Revolution in its tracks

by gjohnsit

 The news media and the political blogs are enraptured with handicapping the political races. No one has time to worry about real issues anymore. This is the silly season, when immigrant nannies and comments from comedians become "important". When shady television hucksters are inexplicably taken seriously and hold huge political rallies.

 Yet the real world, the one that operates on tangible things that make an actual difference in our lives, keeps chugging along.
  While some of you were busy obsessing about political trivialities, the governments of the world were entering a global trade war. This development entered a scary stage yesterday when Brazil decided not to attend the coming G20 summit.

 However, that was nothing compared to China's latest move.

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What the US Military Knows That Politicians Don’t

by NoMoJoe

It’s no secret that most Tea Baggers, many Republicans, and even some Democrats don’t believe that human activity has caused, and is increasingly causing, the Earth’s climate to change.

Apparently, neither the potential for economic recovery nor threats to U.S. national security can budge climate change deniers from their positions.

The U.S. military, on the other hand, operates in the fact-based world.  

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The Cult and Cascading Geothermal Power

by terryhallinan

From Wikipedia:

I'SOT, which stands for In Search of Truth, is a Pentecostal/Bible-based offshoot Christian religious group...

Criticisms

Allegations of physical and sexual abuse brought against members by clients of I'SOT's Group Home/Foster Home during the late 1980s prompted an investigation by State of California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division. The final report was filed July 26, 1991. That Investigation found a preponderance of the evidence that members of I'SOT had physically and sexually abused residents of the group home between 1978 and 1990. I'SOT's application for renewal of their license to operate the Group Home was denied, after which they appealed the decision and lost.

Your tax dollars are going to these people?

Yes - and with good reason.

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Energy Smart Micro-Lending

by A Siegel

Today is time to take a moment to make a plug for a specific charity as I am about to write a check and you might want to as well.  A bit of background first.

• Microfinance is a tremendous tool for helping give people real opportunities to foster better lives.
• Small-scale renewable energy systems are a viable path leap-frog people poorly served by fossil-foolish energy into a cleaner and more cost-effective energy system.

Combine the two and we have a real winner.

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From the Basque Country to Bangladesh: A Climate Change Solution?

by ManfromMiddletown

In the green north of Spain, the Basque region has emerged as a renewable energy powerhouse over the last decade. Although high population density, mountainous terrain, and a lack of appropriate building sites have limited renewable energy production in the region, a number of Spain's most dynamic green energy firms have set up a dynamic manufacturing base there.  With the wind energy market growing saturated, these firms have turned to solar and wave power.  In the latter market, there is an interesting project going on in the coastal city of Mutriku which incorporates wave energy into breakwaters.

As the diagram below explains, the constant splash of small waves is captured through the inclusion of air chambers within the breakwater.  As the waves enter and exit the chamber they drive air in and out, and these changes in air pressure are utilized to drive Wells turbines.

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My White House is Solar Cool. Barack, why isn't yours?

by A Siegel

Sometimes, your kids tell you great things.

We have the coolest house on the street.

Wow.  We're cool -- according to the kids.  Certainly isn't the non-existent slide for the pool that isn't there.  Our lack of a huge media room and the glaring absence of a gym didn't contribute.  And, while I've always thought it cool that we live on the white house of the street, that isn't it either.  Why is it cool? According to my soon-to-be fourth-grader son:

Because we know where our electricity comes from.

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Can Wind Power Save School Budgets?

by ManfromMiddletown

This past weekend, Laura Tyson made the case for a second stimulus in the New York Times. Things, you see, are looking down, particularly for the states. State budgets are being strained, and the prospect of teacher layoffs is a possibility without continued federal aid. Yet.....

The situation would be even worse without the $787 billion fiscal stimulus package passed in 2009. The conventional wisdom about the stimulus package is wrong: it has not failed. It is working as intended. Its spending increases and tax cuts have boosted demand and added about three million more jobs than the economy otherwise would have......

But by next year, the stimulus will end, and the flip from fiscal support to fiscal contraction could shave one to two percentage points off the growth rate at a time when the unemployment rate is still well above 9 percent. Under these circumstances, the economic case for additional government spending and tax relief is compelling....

Two forms of spending with the biggest and quickest bang for the buck are unemployment benefits and aid to state governments.

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An Energy Scientist, His Organization, and a Free Read About Renewable Energy

by SERMCAP

Almost by convention, an independent engineer is a maverick. A footloose nuclear engineer, even more so, is inevitably revolutionary. Thus, Dr. Arjun Makhijani cannot escape being both interesting and controversial This profile examines the man, his ideas, his organizational mission, and, in a preliminary way, his recent monograph, a publication that not only flies in the face of established U.S. energy policy. but also casts down such a gauntlet with both a richly detailed empiricism and a highly honed conceptual framework.

The upshot of this investigation is pretty easy to state.  Dr. Makhijani should be Secretary of Energy for those of us who care both about democratic forms and the Democratic Party.

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Lake Michigan Wind Farm Update

by Muskegon Critic

For those who have been following the ongoing West Michigan offshore wind farm saga, and for those who have given some generous donations in our fight, I'd like to provide a little update of what's going on.

I think the Big Lebowski said it best:

I often choose the Big Lebowski to express myself about the wind farm issue because I feel like some random slob drinking white russians who managed to haphazzardly stumble into an epic struggle with some of my pals.

The struggle for offshore wind power, and for a new industry in West Michigan continues.

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Brilliant

by Laurence Lewis

Congratulations to the Senate, for demonstrating the link between responsibly addressing climate change and building the economy. As reported by Reuters:

Alternative energy investment prospects have shriveled in the United States after the U.S. Senate was unable to break a deadlock over tackling global warming, a Deutsche Bank official said.

"You just throw your hands up and say ... we're going to take our money elsewhere," said Kevin Parker in an interview with Reuters.

Parker, who is global head of the Frankfurt-based bank's Deutsche Asset Management Division, oversees nearly $700 billion in funds that devote $6 billion to $7 billion to climate change products.

Thanks to the brilliance of the Senate, Parker will be looking to invest in China and Europe, where policymakers are looking to the future, which the U.S. isn't. As Jed Lewison noted, the new Congressional state aid package is being funded, in part, by slashing $1.5 billion from renewable energy programs, which is like buying a hungry man some fish by selling a fishing rod.

Meanwhile, someone is setting an example of how to transition an economy to clean energy. Sometimes doing what is right at home is the way to demonstrate international leadership. This comes from the New York Times, on Tuesday:

Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal’s grid will come from renewable sources this year, up from 17 percent just five years ago.

Land-based wind power — this year deemed "potentially competitive" with fossil fuels by the International Energy Agency in Paris — has expanded sevenfold in that time. And Portugal expects in 2011 to become the first country to inaugurate a national network of charging stations for electric cars.

"I’ve seen all the smiles — you know: It’s a good dream. It can’t compete. It’s too expensive," said Prime Minister José Sócrates, recalling the way Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, mockingly offered to build him an electric Ferrari. Mr. Sócrates added, "The experience of Portugal shows that it is possible to make these changes in a very short time."

Portugal, a country that is suffering some of the worst impacts of Europe's economic crisis. And despite a short-term increase in electricity costs. President Obama's goal is to have 20 to 25 percent of U.S. electricity produced from renewable sources by 2025, which may be optimistic, given the ease with which renewable energy programs are being eviscerated. By comparison, IHS Emerging Energy Research says Ireland, Denmark and Britain will be getting at least 40 percent of their energy from renewable sources by that same year. At the same time, federal agencies in the U.S. have been studying how to expand the use of the illusory "clean" coal. The Washington Independent has this exciting news:

The report calls on the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and the Treasury Department to provide recommendations on the issue by late 2011. In the meantime, the report gives a number of potential solutions to the liability dilemma. They include limiting future liability claims, creating an fund into which companies would pay to cover potential claims and the transfer of liability to the federal government.

Limiting corporate liability, while transferring it to the government. Sound familiar?

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Gulf Recovery: "It's [still] the economy, stupid..."

by rb137

This week, Obama signed a $26 billion bill that eases state budget crises and saves 300,000 teachers and policemen from imminent layoffs. The trade-off was DOE's renewable energy and transmission loan-guarantee program: it lost $3.5 billion.

The WH assured Nancy Pelosi that they intend to restore the funds, and claimed there is enough money to support current projects, but the enthusiasm for this program has been tempered from the start. The Office of Management and Budget has been slow fund it, and it does not seem to connect guaranteeing capital to job creation and economic recovery. Harry Reid describes this trend here in a letter to President Obama.

Defecit hawks' war on spending is a war on the middle class, and the DOE's clean energy loan guarantee program is a prime example of how the government can support small businesses and create jobs. Access to working capital is the spine that supports "green economy" and "green jobs", and the lack of it stops the show.

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What’s Green, White and Blue? American Jobs

by Leo W Gerard

Two Chinese companies have agreed to manufacture in America, instead of in China, a significant portion of the wind turbines needed for a Texas wind farm. The deal is a result of white collar Chinese executives negotiating with blue collar union officers to create green collar jobs in the U.S. The agreement defies stereotypes about unions as constantly combative, excessively expensive and environmentally challenged. The United Steelworkers union, which struck the deal, has a track record of engaging with enlightened CEOs for mutual benefit. It has a long green history. And it has worked to return off-shored jobs to the U.S.

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Renewable Energy: The left hand giveth while the right hand taketh away.

by jpmassar

PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is an acronym for a set of programs designed to allow homeowners to finance renewable energy systems in their homes.

It is conceptually quite simple: Instead of a homeowner having to borrow $20,000 for a solar energy system (or come up with it out-of-pocket), and then get partial rebates or tax credits, the city, county or state where the owner lives would front the money (using funds typically raised from bonds).  The homeowner would pay back the money so lent over a period of years through an additional property tax assessment, so much per year.  If the property is sold, the tax assessment remains -- the debt is transferred to the new owner.

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Green diary rescue & open thread

by Meteor Blades

In a study covering 2002-2008, the Environmental Law Institute concluded that federal energy subsidies favored fossil fuels over renewables by a wide margin. Moreover, more than half the renewable subsidies went to corn-based ethanol.

• The vast majority of federal subsidies for fossil fuels and renewable energy supported energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases when used as fuel.

• The federal government provided substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables. Subsidies to fossil fuels—a mature, developed industry that has enjoyed government support for many years—totaled approximately $72 billion over the study period, representing a direct cost to taxpayers.

• Subsidies for renewable fuels, a relatively young and developing industry, totaled $29 billion over the same period.
 
• Subsidies to fossil fuels generally increased over the study period (though they decreased in 2008), while funding for renewables increased but saw a precipitous drop in 2006-07 (though they increased in 2008). The largest subsidies to fossil fuels were written into the U.S. Tax Code as permanent provisions. By comparison, many subsidies for renewables are time-limited initiatives implemented through energy bills, with expiration dates that limit their usefulness to the renewables industry.

• The vast majority of subsidy dollars to fossil fuels can be attributed to just a handful of tax breaks, such as the Foreign Tax Credit ($15.3 billion) and the Credit for Production of Nonconventional Fuels ($14.1 billion, though this credit has since been phased out). The largest of these, the Foreign Tax Credit, applies to the overseas production of oil through an obscure provision of the Tax Code, which allows energy companies to claim a tax credit for payments that would normally receive less-beneficial tax treatment.

   
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^{Green diary rescue appears twice weekly in this time slot. Inclusion of a particular diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement with it. The rescue begins below and continues in the jump.}

• • • • •

Crashing Vor gave us a good warning in "Over": "BP's new well cap is in place and pressure tests have begun, with very appropriate caution. If the tests indicate that the well bore and casings have sufficient integrity to withstand the internal pressures of the well, there is a chance that the spigot may get turned off this week.As wonderful as that news is, it will bring a chorus of sighs from the media, the government, the oil industry and well-meaning Gulf Coast residents, a chorus singing, 'It's over!' That chorus will echo throughout the mediasphere. And it will be dead wrong."

In the EcoAdvocates series, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse offered some hope that Obama May Reverse Bush on Indigenous Rights: "Bush voted against UNDRIP (the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) ostensibly because the declaration was subject to 'conflicting interpretations and debate about its application' and therefore not 'capable of implementation.' If this standard applied to the U.S. Constitution, it would not exist. In reality, Bush did not like that UNDRIP recognizes a range of rights that address corporate and governmental plundering of resources as well as abuse and discrimination. Elections have consequences.  President Obama recognizes that UNDRIP provides a framework for addressing the rights of indigenous peoples so he is now reviewing whether the U.S. should join 144 other countries with its endorsement."

greendem informed us about Moms Turned Mountaineers in Climb Against Coal: "We are four Washington moms, who, on Saturday July 17, will attempt to summit Mount Rainier with a message for our Governor. Our Climb Against Coal challenges Governor Gregoire to close Washington’s largest toxic polluter and point source of deadly carbon: the TransAlta coal-fired power plant in Centralia."

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A Bill That Reduces the Deficit & Creates Jobs

by mark louis

Too good to be true right?  Well, that bill does exist.  And not only does the bill create 200 thousand jobs per year for the next decade & cut the deficit by $19 billion over the next decade, it also cuts greenhouse gas emissions.  This bill is the American Power Act, and it has no chance of passing.

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