tax credits
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Is it politically realistic to eliminate energy subsidies?
Previously I wrote about the policy question of "getting rid of all energy subsidies." But what about the politics? Could it actually happen?
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Should we get rid of all energy subsidies?
Should the U.S. get rid of all energy subsidies? In a new piece for Washington Monthly, Jeffrey Leonard argues that we should. Is that a good idea?
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Federal solar incentives cost schools ownership opportunity
This is part of a series on distributed renewable energy. It originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. There’s been a fair amount of news about the spread of solar carports in California, highlighting the Milpitas School District’s 14 distributed solar PV arrays. According to a […]
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Perverse policy makes distributed renewables more expensive
I’ve talked previously about the perversity of using tax credits to incentivize renewable energy production, increasing transaction costs and reducing participation in renewable energy development. But there are other perversities in U.S. state and utility renewable energy policies, especially with upfront rebates and net metering.
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Clean energy grants extended for a year; still a dumb way to do things
It looks like a one-year extension of the renewable-energy grant program has made it into the tax bill now brewing in Congress. It's much, much better than the alternative, but it's also no way to run a country.
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Time to move like the wind to save clean energy
Rep. Ed Markey argues that the framework tax deal announced this week by President Obama and GOP Senate leaders threatens to kill clean energy jobs.
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How renewable incentives affect project ownership
In less than a month, solar energy projects will see the stimulus-funded cash grant in lieu of the 30 percent tax credit expire
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Why tax credits make lousy renewable energy policy
The cash grant program is set to end this year, but solar and wind advocates hope it will be extended, for good reason. Tax credits make dumb policy.
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A question for James Fallows about coal and focus
I waded into "Dirty Coal, Clean Future," James Fallows' new cover piece for The Atlantic, prepared to be outraged, what with coal being the enemy of the human race and all. But it turns out to be an incredibly cogent, accessible walk through some extremely vexed issues. Still I can't help wonder why he put the focus on coal's necessity rather than its evil.