More than ever, it’s time for clean, safe solar energy

Speak Up Now and Sign the Solar Bill of Rights

In the midst of some of the worst energy disasters in America’s history—the Gulf oil spill and the West Virginia coal mine explosion—lawmakers in Washington haven’t listened to the American people.

This fall, SEIA will march to the U.S. Capitol and deliver your demand for clean, safe, reliable solar energy.

From http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/08/why-we-ve-failed-again?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-August11-2010

For all the talk about a new “Clean Energy Economy,” federal action on the issue has been downright pitiful this year. It’s easy to simply blame Congress, but it’s more complex than that. The renewable energy and environmental community need to share some of the blame as well.

Let’s set the stage, shall we?

Renewables are still the fastest growing form of energy globally. But the United States – the large, powerful nation that it is – has slipped behind in the increasingly-heated competition to build this new industry. In the last few years, the renewables industry has done a great job navigating the scattered, stop-and-start nature of the U.S. market. But the lack of consistent federal support has finally caught up.

For example, China is now the world’s fastest growing wind market. Chinese producers are starting to give American companies like GE some serious competition. Competition is a wonderful thing. But when a long-time technology leader like GE starts feeling the pressure from companies that have grown practically overnight, you pay attention.

China is a big country, of course. So its sheer size gives it an advantage.

Then you look at Italy, a country three fourths the size of California. Italy installed more solar PV last year than both California and the U.S. as a whole. This year will be the same.

And don’t forget about cloudy Germany, a country that will install around 6.5 GW of solar PV in 2010. The U.S. will install around 800 MW. God bless the Germans. Even though solar is probably not a great investment for the country given its resources, the leaders crafted a national strategy, acted upon it and helped create a solid foundation for the global solar industry. If it weren’t for the German push, the solar market wouldn’t be where it is today.

Now over to the U.S. where leaders still haven’t been able to pass a national target for renewable heat and electricity or even extend the production tax credit and Treasury grant program to give investors some clarity. Wind installations are down to 2007 levels, new small hydro development is extremely slow, geothermal developers are worried about not qualifying for tax credits, and solar, while definitely moving at a steady clip, doesn’t compare with the massive amount of capacity smaller countries are putting online.

Analysts have been calling America a “sleeper” market for years. Well guess what: It hasn’t yet begun to wake up.

To be fair, the drag in the market has also been caused by factors like lower demand for energy and falling natural gas prices. Policy is only one piece of a larger picture. But when a strong national signal to the market is there, the other pieces tend to fall into place.

2010 was supposed to be a defining year for renewables. An international climate change conference. A supportive president. A coal mine explosion and a massive oil spill. Instead, the industry ends the year with more uncertainty. Why? The irony may be that those factors contributed to the inertia and partisanship in Washington.

For far too long, environmental advocates and renewable energy interest groups pushed for a comprehensive climate bill. It was clear this spring that Congress wasn’t going to act. But rather than focus on smaller things that could have an immediate impact – principally an extension of the Treasury Grant Program or the production tax credit – they kept focused on the politically-volatile carbon cap and trade during an election year.

President Obama, who was trying to score some political points after the Gulf oil spill and show his support for “green jobs,” announced a few large loan guarantees to some sexy solar companies. However, he was completely silent about the things that would benefit the entire industry: Again, long-term tax credits or a renewable energy target.

Everyone – Congress, the President and the advocacy community – failed to recognize the politically expedient steps that needed to be taken. Instead of creating certainty for developers and investors, all we got in 2010 were some great photo-ops and a lot of partisan bickering. Once again we’ve proven that all the talk about a clean energy economy has been just that: Talk.

We still have many more months before the year comes to a close. But with the mid-term elections coming up, getting something passed looks less likely by the day. Let’s hope that Congress pulls it together and has the sense to give the industry some clarity for 2011.

 http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/08/why-we-ve-failed-again?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-August11-2010

 From Renewable Energy World

Posted on July 20, 2010

Obama’s Approval Ratings — and Energy

It’s fairly obvious what lies at the core of president Obama’s dwindling approval ratings:  none of the things he apparently stands for are happening to the satisfaction of the electorate.  While he’s aggressively taking action on healthcare reform, immigration, and protecting us from the criminals on Wall Street, the progress he’s making is the product of huge compromises whose end products are garbled, wrong-headed garbage that wind up pleasing no one.

Of course, the same political exigencies that create such a mess in areas like healthcare exist in Obama’s energy policy as well.  For example, it’s business as usual in continuing the billions of dollars in subsidies for oil and gas.  How sincere are we about eliminating our dependence on oil when tax-payers are spending $72 billion per year supporting this industry and artificially driving down the price of gasoline?

Having said that, it’s clear that the current administration has been far more active than its predecessors in supporting the development of clean energy.  Yes, a lot of this support is the stimulus money handed out under ARPA-E.  But it’s clear that Team Obama is extremely bullish on renewables in ways that extend far beyond.

The examples of this are all around us.  The Bureau of Land Management, which rubber-stamped thousands of leases of public land for the oil companies while putting a moratorium on solar thermal applications just a few years ago, is making a huge change in its position. For example, driven by the Obama Administration’s desire to double clean energy capacity in two to three years, the BLM is in the early stages of rolling out a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on 24 solar energy study areas, amounting to about 700,000 acres of land.

Anyone with any sense of decency is sickened by the corruption in Washington, by the oil companies’ 7000 lobbyists extorting huge sums of cash and all manner of other support from our elected leaders.  Yet, even with all that overt criminality, it appears that advocates for clean energy are making progress.

Craig Shields, editor of 2GreenEnergy.com and author, Renewable Energy — Facts and Fantasties (2010).
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/07/obamas-approval-ratings-and-energy?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-July21-2010