Why American PV Makers Do Not Want Cheap Solar

Joe Walsh — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:00:57 +0000

If it were possible to make perfect public policy, we would not be in the middle of our nation’s 111th Congress. Alas, there is no “set it and forget it” formula for governing. Add in complex scientific questions, global-scale economics and technological innovation, and you have the energy and environmental policy challenge: how do we succesfully incentive and subsidize renewable fuels (or penalize emissions and fossil fuels)? Feed-in tariffs pose problems. Cap-and-trade has proven thorny. Green power options still need a lot of fine-tuning.

One universal difficulty is the continuing cost gap between renewable and fossil fuels. Creating an incentive program that works within the prevailing market - even a heavily regulated one - without interfering with normal market operation is very difficult when the price points are so far apart. Internalizing some of the costs of burning fossil fuels would help close that gap, and that is what cap-and-trade is all about: promote and subsidize clean energy and put downward pressure (both economically and through command and control) on dirtier fuels.

Bipartisan Senate Bill To Extend Renewable Tax Credits

Jerry James Stone — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:31:33 +0000

After much arm wrestling, the Senate came to an agreement on energy tax breaks which are set to expire later this year. Both Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), of the Senate Finance Committee, made the announcement on Tuesday.

The tax package will provide $17 billion in renewable energy tax breaks. It will also adjust the alternative minimum tax, extend tax credits for children and create several business tax cuts. It will also set aside $7 billion in tax relief for those affected by recent floods and hurricanes. The bill extends the solar and wind investment tax credit for eight years, and the production tax credit for biomass and hydropower for up to two years.

Green Options » energy tax

Why American PV Makers Do Not Want Cheap Solar

Bipartisan Senate Bill To Extend Renewable Tax Credits