Green Energy Politics USA | Green Energy News

February 3, 2002 – Vol.6 No.45

GREEN ENERGY POLITICS U.S.A.

In a typical year in Washington, D.C. the President submits a budget in the early part of the year, then Congress and the White House take three-quarters of that year bickering over how to spend the taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars. This year, at least for green energy, politicos at the two-ends of Pennsylvania Avenue may come to agreement before the cherry blossoms get washed off the trees in the first spring rain.

In a bit of luck, and maybe the realization in Washington that green energy would be good for the country (finally), the portion of President’s 2003 budget which pertains to green energy is strikingly similar to an energy bill the Senate is now working on. Similarity means less haggling and bills get signed and passed into law sooner than later.

Points of similarity...

-- The President wants the Production Tax Credit (PTC), now for wind and some specific biomass energy, extended through 2005. The Senate wants the PTC extended another five years. (That would be 2007, if retroactive to the first of this year. The extension could initiate a large expansion and presence of wind energy in the U.S.)

-- Both want the PTC to be expanded to include a wide variety of biomass energy sources. The Senate also wants to include geothermal energy.

-- Both want tax credits for the purchase of hybrid electric and fuel cell cars. The President wants one based on fuel efficiency improvements. Hybrids would get up to $4000, fuel cell cars $4000 - 8000. The Senate offers much the same thing. (Of course you can’t buy a fuel cell car yet.)

-- Both want tax breaks for installed solar systems - photovoltaic and thermal - up to $2000 per system.

-- Both want tax credits or excise tax relief for producers of alternative fuels. The President wants tax help for ethanol and methanol made from renewable sources. The Senate wants tax relief also to include biodiesel.

Where they differ...

-- The President wants a new tax credit for combined heat and power plants (CHP) and an extension of the tax credit for methane landfill gas projects.

-- The President also wants $150 million for the first year of the Freedom CAR fuel cell vehicle and infrastructure program. (Funding for subsequent years is not mentioned.)

-- The President wants grants to continue for the weatherization of homes of low-income families. The Senate wants tax breaks for energy efficient appliances as well as for new or renovated buildings that have reduced energy consumption.

The fine points of each measure will be tossed around for the next few months by politicians and analysts. Some have already noted that a portion of the funding for renewables in the President’s budget would come from the revenue from drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Other energy and environmental programs are cut in that budget, but there is money for the development of new nuclear power.

Tax breaks are included in the Senate bill for the burning of cleaner coal and installing clean coal technologies.