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Victory for clean energy bills = job creation
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U.S. Capitol where recent clean energy bills passed (pawatercooler.com).
The solar power industry, along with other alternative energy advocates, have been actively promoting recent critical legislation at the federal and state level that is vital for the growth of renewable energy across the country. Historically, renewable or alternative energy-based companies have been heavily reliant on temporary tax incentives or subsidies, but investors and foreign companies have been hesitant to make a serious commitment to build new facilities and fund research and development in the U.S. without approved permanent policy measures that essentially drive the market to reaching specified standards for the conversion to clean energy power sources, including proper tax incentives to facilitate the transition.
On June 24, representatives of Dow Corning, a leading producer of silicon-based materials used in solar energy technologies, and representatives of America's top solar energy companies visited Washington D.C. to request new federal policies to encourage the growth of a domestic solar energy industry that will promote economic growth, create jobs, and enable greenhouse gas emissions goals to be met.
During the visit, Dow Corning and representatives from several of its leading solar technology customers met with key members of Congress and the Obama Administration. A Four Point Policy Plan was presented focused on the steps necessary for the adoption of solar energy technologies and support a robust renewable energy manufacturing sector in America. The plan calls on Congress and the Obama Administration to:
1. Enact a widespread federal legislative and regulatory package, designed to encourage the rapid growth of a viable renewable energy industry and encourage consumer adoption.
2. Increase investments in research and development to support innovation in solar energy technologies.
3. Increase renewable energy-related education, training and job creation.
4. Establish the federal government, rather than states independently, as the leader in the utilization of clean energy technologies.
Dow Corning, whose silicon-based materials are used in solar cell manufacturing, solar module assembly and installation, was joined by nine of its customers representing the solar energy value chain including: Abengoa Solar, BP Solar, Kyocera, National Semiconductor Corporation, Sanyo, SCHOTT Solar, Solar Power Industries, SolarWorld, and Suniva. The solar industry has become increasingly more organized and influential in leading the Green Revolution across the U.S., as solar has strong public support and has become one of the most powerful voices among the clean energy technology camps, which also encompass biofuels, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric.
This solar industry lobbyist meeting in Washington appears to have been partly influential in the U.S. House of Representative’s passing of the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES)” on Friday, June 26. President Barack Obama obtained a major victory for his high-priority energy agenda in the passing of this legislation geared towards reducing industrial pollution that has contributed to global warming. The House approved this climate change bill, by only a heavily partisan vote of 219-212.
The House-passed bill sponsored by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Chairman Edward J. Markey of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, requires that large U.S. companies, including utilities, oil refiners, manufacturers and others, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases associated with global warming by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050- with respect to 2005 levels. At the heart of the bill is a "cap and trade" program designed to achieve the emissions reductions by industry sector. Under the plan, the government would issue a declining number of pollution permits to companies, which could sell those permits to each other as needed. It is expected that carbon regulation monitoring and the credits themselves will manifest as a new significant source of capital and growth for companies involved in this field. In addition, the ACES bill will also aid the emerging trend of solar-powered manufacturing facilities for various products in order to minimize carbon emissions. It is possible that the Senate will develop its own similar bill, which would ultimately be merged with the House bill before ever reaching President Obama’s desk.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the overall increase in energy price per person in America, which has been a point of contention and debate for Republicans, would be $175 per year, which is reasonable considering the environmental and economic benefits of the bill intended to create millions of clean energy jobs. The bill also has a provision that would place tariffs on imports from countries with high greenhouse gas emissions in order to lessen the impact of potential outsourcing of companies to avoid the strict pollution regulations.
In another victory of late for the cleantech manufacturing industry, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed energy legislation by a 15-8 vote that includes a renewable electricity standard (RES) of 15% of all power generated in the U.S. annually by 2021, allowing states to fulfill up to 4% of the requirement through Green, energy efficiency measures.
At the state level, Arizona Senate Bill 1403, which offers tax credits for solar equipment companies that build plants in the state, passed in the House of Representatives by a margin of 39-12 on Friday, June 26- overshadowed by the cap and trade ACES bill passage at the federal level on the same day. The Arizona legislation, which has the support of numerous local businesses and solar firms, is pending to become law as Gov. Brewer evaluates the solar incentives amidst the state budget crisis. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), Arizona State University president Michael Crow, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, and Arizona Cardinals president Michael Bidwill are the main advocates of the solar incentives bill, noting it will help the state attract solar and renewable energy investments and jobs in lieu of Phoenix’s lackluster economy, which is ranked in the second worst category for major metropolitan areas. GPEC pushed for solar energy incentives and tax credits last year, but the program failed to gain final approval from former governor Janet Napolitano and the AZ Legislature. If federal legislation promoting clean energy and cap and trade regulations are written into law, it will increase the potential windfall for Arizona, assuming the state is able to capitalize on the country's conversion to renewable energy such as solar power. In April 2009, AZ Gov. Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said the governor wanted to entice more solar energy investments to the state, but the governor did not endorse this bill at that time.
Even with these three recent legislative victories for the renewable energy industry, including cap and trade, the transition will not happen overnight. Alarmists should not be disgruntled as fossil fuels are not going away any time soon, as the measures are essentially long-term commitments for a conversion towards energy independence, reducing global warming, and developing a clean energy infrastructure to help revitalize the American economy. In addition, one of the long-run benefits of this legislation will be less reliance on the price of oil, as it peak price contributed to the sinking of the U.S. economy into its ongoing recession by making all products, that happen to be predominantly imported using oil- or gas-hungry transportation, more expensive.
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For more info: U.S. House official website- http://www.house.gov/, US. Senate official website- http://www.senate.gov/, AZ State legislature official website- http://www.azsenate.gov/, AZ Gov. Brewer official website- http://www.azgovernor.gov/, U.S. Global Change Research Program 2009 report/ Executive Summary
7/14/09 UPDATE: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill SB 1403 into law on 7/11/09
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