NOT JUST NEW ENERGY IN THE BALANCE

The unprecedented expansion of New Energy capacity in the 21st century was interrupted in 2000, 2002 and 2004 when Congress allowed PTCs and ITCs to expire in the preceding years.

In 2007, after a sustained period of policy support (2005 through 2007) there was $20 billion in New Energy investment generating 6,000 megawatts of power as well as tens of thousands of jobs.

Some argue this proves New Energy is only viable with government subsidies. In fact, there are no energies that would certainly expand without government subsidies. U.S. oil production is falling off even WITH the $20+ billion in tax breaks and incentives provided by the recent energy bill. Nuclear energy development has been stalled ever since the adequacy of its insurance subsidies came into question after serious nuclear accidents; nuclear energy is only threatening to break out again now as new loan guarantees have spurred interest. Threatened by the specter of a price on emissions, the coal industry is only going to expand if the government subsidizes development of “clean” coal.

New Energies are growing in the same ways due to the same forces of climate change and rising oil prices. In fact, fossil fuels industries lobbyists are working aggressively to suppress competition from New Energies because New Energy costs keep coming down while the cost of oil and gas and coal and nuclear go up.

Policy matters. Congress needs to support what the country clearly wants and needs. (click to enlarge)

If legislators succumb to the pressures of Old Energy lobbyists and squeeze New Energy out, the fossil fuels industries will benefit, New Energy growth will seriously slow and the big losers will be the American people.

Renewable Energy Groups Say 2007 Gains Could Be Lost Without Tax Credit Extension
Dan Caterinicchia, January 22, 2008 (AP via Yahoo Finance)

Go to Power of Wind and tell Congress to resist Old Energy pressure and be fair to New Energy.

WHO
National Hydropower Association (NHA), Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)

WHAT
Associations representing the New Energies called for Congress and the President to include vital Production Tax Credits (PTCs) and Investment Tax Credits (ITCs) in the new economic stimulus legislation.

Its not just about energy infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake, too. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
PTCs and ITCs for New Energies were omitted from the energy bill pushed through Congress by the Bush administration in December 2007 in deference to subsidies and incentives for the fossil fuels industries and the biofuels industries.

WHERE
The action is in Washington, D.C., as Congress and the President haggle over elements of an economic stimulus package needed to counteract the housing market collapse.

New Energy is a better source of jobs than Old Energy. (click to enlarge)

WHY
- President Bush has talked about a $145 billion dollar stimulus package. A portion of it could not be spent better than on PTCs and ITCs which are sure to be put to work in the booming New Energy industries.
- Big wind farms and solar power plants take a year or more to plan, permit and build. Those developed under the terms of PTCs and ITCs available in 2005, 2006 and 2007 have led a remarkable expansion. Extensions of the incentives will certainly be answered by more growth.

Who pulls support away from a boom like this? Especially in a teetering economy! (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- The Associations’ statement: "If the renewable energy tax credits are allowed to expire, we will lose hundreds of thousands of jobs here in the U.S…With the nation facing a possible recession, it is difficult to imagine a worse time to destabilize America's rapidly growing renewable energy sector."
- Randall Swisher, Executive Director, AWEA: “This is the third consecutive year of record-setting growth, establishing wind power as one of the largest sources of new electricity supply for the country…This remarkable and accelerating growth is driven by strong demand, favorable economics, and a period of welcome relief from the on-again, off-again, boom-and-bust, cycle of the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind power.”