Stop Me, If You Heard This One, Arianna

In our continuing search for truth, justice and irony in the American Way, James P. Hoffa laments to HuffPo that China isn’t being fair and square

Hoffa’s most ludicrous inference is that China somehow is responsible for manufacturers of solar paneling and wind turbines cutting jobs and closing factories in the United States. This is simply a ploy to deny federal policy that has and continues to undermine energy security and worsen conditions of catastrophic climate change. You could make a case that the U.S. now is unable to compete with China in the production of low-carbon, non-nuclear sources of electric power. If we look at such non-competitiveness and its genesis, along with inaction in response to findings about dangerously rising levels of carbon dioxide, then I think the miscreants are not on the other side of the world. As Nassim Taleb said: “Using leverage to cure the problems of too much leverage is denial.”

China is breaking the trade rules that the rest of the world follows in order to dominate production of clean energy… Our brothers and sisters at the United Steel Workers are prodding the government to take action against China. Last week they filed a 5,800-page petition asking the U.S. Trade Representative to restrain China from five sets of unfair policies and practices.

The steelworkers say the Chinese government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidized loans and cheap land deals to promote their clean-energy industry illegally.

More to the truth of the matter; Emperor Fossil has a concern: renewable energy growth in China is greater than coal. AP reports that China rejected a U.S. union’s trade complaint over Beijing’s support for clean energy industries and said Wednesday such criticism is hypocritical at a time when China is under pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Still, displacement is a common tactic, and focusing on China is a way to counteract a Solar Bill of Rights and the observation of the author that “the full promise of solar power is being restrained by the tyranny of policies that protect our competitors, subsidize wealthy polluters and disadvantage green entrepreneurs.” And, while the Republicrats consider the steelworkers’ complaint, denial of a clear and present danger persists. Saying the complaint was hypocritical is politeness; this blog prefers the term malefic.

More AG posts on the topic of how bizarre our denial can get

3 Comments

jcwinnie

Posted 2010-10-14 at 12:55 pm | Permalink

Moi

“Preening Pig“, eh? There they go being ever so polite again, Andy.
jcwinnie

Posted 2010-11-10 at 2:50 pm | Permalink

The economic recession has hit renewable energy industries in the United States hard, and the effects have been accentuated by the country’s lack of national renewable energy policy.

Many renewable energy businesses have found it increasingly difficult to receive money from financial institutions since 2008. Yet, even when the finances have been in order, these companies have seen their projects halted by regulatory bodies which deem the cost of their energy as an added expense to the already tight monthly budget for American consumers.

The New York Times reports that deals for utilities to purchase renewable energy have been delayed in states such as Virginia, Idaho, Kentucky, and Florida. Michael Polsky, the owner of Invenergy, a wind farm company, says his contract to sell energy to a utility in Virginia was rejected by state regulators. The regulators cited the recession in their decision, and stated that energy produced by natural gas was a cheaper and better option for ratepayers — wind power would have increased monthly bills by 0.2%.

The cost of producing renewable energy is still higher than fossil fuel production. However, as the technology continues to improve and fossil fuels prices increase, analysts say the costs will become competitive. Nevertheless, the United States has yet to commit whole-heartedly to clean energy.

Paul Gipe, a member of the steering committee of the Alliance for Renewable Energy – an organization advocating energy policy reform — says lack of commitment comes from a nation-wide failure to confront the tough question: “We have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we really want renewables?’ And if the answer is yes, then we’re going to have to pay for them.”

China and the European Union have each shown a willingness to pay for renewable energy. The latest research from Ernst & Young states China has become the most attractive area for cleantech investment. Meanwhile, governments across Europe have modified their energy policies to mandate renewable energy generation. Even though some policies have been more effective than others, they are all working toward meeting the European Union’s target of generating 20% of its energy from renewable energy by 2020.

So far the United States has relied on individual states enacting their own renewable energy standards and federal government grants for renewable energy projects. Even without a full-scale commitment from the federal government, renewable energy continues to grow in America — a statement of the industry’s robustness.

Fossil fuels are cheaper than renewable energy sources, and most likely will remain so for the near future. Price, however, is more inclusive than just dollars and cents; it now must account for environmental cost and long-term sustainability. The 21^st century economy will have to reflect a more acute awareness of the environment as well as the accessiblity of vital resources, such as energy supply.

This current recession will end, but the enduring American energy question is likely to remain: what price will it take to commit to the new energy economy?

America’s Energy Question: What Price Will it Take to Commit to Renewable Energy?
jcwinnie

Posted 2010-11-10 at 4:12 pm | Permalink

The Center for American Progress Richard W. Caperton tells us about the Treasury cash grant program.

Also called “Section 1603”, provides a cash grant to a renewable energy developer in lieu of a tax credit. Historically, project developers have earned a tax credit based on the size of their investment in renewable energy. These developers rarely have profits and don’t owe any taxes, so they would sell the credits to a “tax equity partner”. In the recent financial crisis, these tax equity partners – typically large financial institutions – disappeared, and developers were left holding tax credits they couldn’t use.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “stimulus bill”) fixed this problem by offering developers the ability to either claim the tax credit or receive a cash grant for the same amount as the credit. Not surprisingly, this has been hugely popular, and Treasury has disbursed more than $5 billion in grants since the program began.

Vice President Joe Biden joined a growing number of voices in calling for Congress to extend the Treasury cash grant program. Biden said, “This program was created by the Recovery Act and has been hugely successful, leading to nearly 4,000 new clean energy projects over the past two years here in the United States.” In addition to endorsing the cash grants, he also called for several new important energy efficiency initiatives when he addressed a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force.

A recent report from Biden also detailed the Section 1603 program’s role in job creation. According to “The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy through Innovation,” the cash grant program is directly responsible for creating 12,000 new jobs. Reports from the American Wind Energy Association, which also counts indirect job creation in sectors like manufacturing, estimate that the program has created or saved 40,000 jobs.

The Center for American Progress has written about this program several times over the last year. In these other pieces, we’ve described more details about how the program works (“Generating Clean Energy Jobs”), why cash grants are preferable to tax credits (“America’s Hidden Power Bill”), and how effective the program has been (“The entire American economy, including renewable energy, benefited from the stimulus bill”).

3 Trackbacks

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[...] And, it is more than that. It is sizable advertising bought to insure that reporters don’t question the sources, and sizable campaign contributions to make sure that our “elected” representatives don’t question their ethics. [...]

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