Like a lot of progressives, I’m not over the moon about the “deal” that’s been struck in Washington on taxes. There are, however, some justifications for President Obama letting a lot of things fall out of what should have been a whole new approach to how we, the American taxpayers, are asked to invest in our government and the economy and society it represents. By this, I mean that although the top tax brackets are going to receive more, while the working and middle classes continue to suffer what can politely be called “income inequality,” the dire state of the economy necessitates, certainly, the continuation of unemployment benefits. This is not the forum, however, to argue the politics and the policy of what the President is moving forward.
However, this is very much the place to note that the agreement leaves critical renewable energy supports out in the cold. SolveClimate explains here that the tax package, as presently constituted, will lead to a deep shortfall in critical funding for renewable projects – and a corresponding loss of jobs. The American Wind Energy Association predicts a hemorrhaging of jobs in their industry.
What’s at stake is an extension of the Section 1603 program – Payments for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, aka Treasury’s cash-grant program. Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said here “Without the program, it is doubtful we’ll see growth at all. We would certainly expect several hundred megawatts to fall off the production chart compared to what we have in 2010.”
A NY Times editorial notes the danger in letting this program lapse, along with a manufacturing tax credit for clean tech, while at the same time the absurdity in continuing subsidies to ethanol production. “Corn ethanol’s environmental benefits also have been called into serious question. Some studies have found that corn ethanol, as presently produced, releases more greenhouse gases than petroleum fuels. The rush to convert food crops to fuel production also has contributed to spikes in food prices.” Are we getting smarter? Maybe not.
Pew has just come out with a blockbuster report that is entirely germane: Global Clean Power: A $2.3 Trillion Opportunity. According to SmartPlanet, the Pew folks found that if the US had a more aggressive policy on climate and clean energy, we “…would attract $342 billion in private clean energy investments over the next decade…”
But maybe that’s precisely the kind of activity the folks with the whip hand on the tax “deal” are trying to prevent.
