QUICK NEWS, April 7: HOUSE PUSHES CLIMATE CHANGE ASIDE; SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES WIND’S VITAL TAX BREAK; COMMUNITY-OWNED SOLAR IN MASSACHUSETTS

HOUSE PUSHES CLIMATE CHANGE ASIDE House Passes Bill Requiring Agencies To Put Climate Change On The Back Burner

Emily Atkin, April 2, 2014 (ClimateProgress)

“Two days after a U.N. report warned of increased famine, war, and poverty from unmitigated carbon emissions, the Republican-led House of Representatives…passed a bill that would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to focus less on studying climate change, and more on predicting storms…The bill, introduced last June by Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), wouldn’t require NOAA to stop its climate research entirely, but it would require the agency to ‘prioritize weather-related activities, including the provision of improved weather data, forecasts, and warnings for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy.’ NOAA is…focused on the changing conditions of both the oceans and the atmosphere…[and] oversees the National Weather Service, the National Ocean Service, and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research…[Bridenstine has repeatedly said climate change] does not exist, despite consensus from 97 percent of the scientific community…” click here for more

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SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES WIND’S VITAL TAX BREAK Renewable energy Production Tax Credit passes critical test as Senate Finance Committee sends tax extenders bill to floor

April 3, 2014 (American Wind Energy Association)

"The renewable energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) [two year extension] and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) were included…with bipartisan support, as the U.S. Senate Finance Committee reported out a tax extenders package whose swift passage is critically important to the continued growth of the U.S. wind energy industry…They prevailed on a critical 18-6 vote during the committee markup…[after] Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) [moved] to strip them out. Five Republicans joined the committee’s Democrats in voting down that amendment…[Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)] called Toomey’s arguments against their extension ‘intellectually dishonest,’ considering billions of dollars a year in permanent incentives for other forms of energy with which renewable energy competes…The tax credits now advance toward extension with over 50 other expired provisions of the tax code, in the absence of a comprehensive tax reform deal in Congress…” click here for more

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COMMUNITY-OWNED SOLAR IN MASSACHUSETTS Clean Energy Collective and RGS Energy to Deploy First Community-Owned Solar Facilities in Massachusetts

April 3, 2014 (Globe NewsWire via MarketWatch)

“The community solar developer, Clean Energy Collective (CEC), has selected RGS Energy…as the general contractor for the construction of the first community-owned solar facilities located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…[RGS Energy] will provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for two large solar arrays of nearly 1 megawatt (MW)…Construction has already begun on the two sites, with interconnection planned for the end of June…[Community solar is a] fast growing distributed generation model pioneered by CEC…[It] allows any customer in a participating utility territory, including renters, those with shaded roofs or people with modest incomes…to own panels in a shared solar PV facility, scalable to a single panel, without having to install a rooftop system…The solar PV arrays are designed and located for maximum power production and lifespan, delivering the lowest possible price for renewable energy. In return for the power produced, customers receive credits on monthly electric bills…” click here for more

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