tax incentives
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Memo to President-elect Barack Obama on democratizing the energy system
Dear President-elect Obama, Congratulations on your historic election. Now the truly heavy lifting begins. You have declared your intention to make "a new energy economy" your "No. 1 priority." We urge you to follow a path that leads not only to changes in the fuels underpinning our energy system but also to changes in the […]
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The Alliance to Save Energy plan
Part 1 reported that Obama and the Dems are planning a huge stimulus package with a big cleantech component and asked for ideas. Brian Castelli, Executive Vice President of the D.C.-based Alliance to Save Energy sent me their recommendations. Brian has been a cleantech leader for over three decades. I got to know him at […]
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The trouble with clean-energy tax credits
Round about the time I got out of college, I (like seemingly everyone else) got a Leatherman — the Swiss Army knife cum pliers cum screwdriver that fit in your pocket. Since I was finally out of the dormitories and in my own apartment, it was handy to have a tool to assemble the odd […]
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Solar industry aims for grid parity in eight years
Solar companies are getting some swagger: “We designed the eight-year tax credit extension very purposely,” said Rhone Resch, president of Solar Energy Industries Association. “We believe that at the end of that time, solar will have achieved grid parity, which means simply that we will be the lowest-cost source of retail electricity in almost all […]
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House passes bailout plan with extensions for renewables, sends to Bush’s desk
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. After failing to muster enough votes on Monday, the House on Friday approved the financial market bailout plan by a vote of 263-171, sending the bill to the desk of the president. The final version of the bailout included the extensions for renewable tax credits that Congress […]
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Business association lays out recommendations for energy policy
The Institute for 21st Century Energy is a project of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which bills itself as a bipartisan trade association. In fact, it has effectively become part of the Republican machine, dominated by — and lobbying fiercely for the interests of — Big Oil, Big Auto, Big Pharma, and other such Bigs. […]
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Senate adds renewable-energy tax credits to bailout, to chagrin of moderate House Dems
The Senate is planning to add its tax bill — which includes the extension of renewable-energy tax credits — to the $700 billion bailout package it will be voting on tonight. The addition is intended to “sweeten” the deal in hopes of gathering more votes and ensuring passage of the bailout package. The Senate has […]
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Is a 40-mile all-electric range too much?
I have an article in today’s Guardian online, “Is the Chevy Volt just hype?” I argue that the key to the near-term success for plug-ins in this country is government incentives and mandates, which in turn will critically depend on the outcome of the presidential election. But that should not be a surprise, since no […]
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Wired passes along conventional wisdom on climate policy
Andrew Sullivan approvingly cites this piece from Steve Rayner, a letter to the next president about what to do on climate change. It seems Wired has made it company policy to publish only stuff that drives me up the wall. First, it says "cap and trade won’t work" on the basis of the fact that […]