Solar, wind industries aided by federal bailout
· October 5, 2008 · Print This Article
Congress finally passed a key renewable energy bill late last week, extending tax credits for solar and wind power. It only took the near-collapse of the American financial system to make it happen.
The $700 billion federal bailout for Wall Street, to buy up toxic mortgage-backed securities, contains $17 billion for wind, solar and other renewable energy technologies.
Am I the only one, or is this completely ass-backwards?
Wall Street gets $700 billion, to throw into a toxic stewpot of bogus securities and incomprehensible derivatives that no one understands, even the folks who invented them. Wind, solar, hybrid cars and alternative fuels — which would create jobs, slow climate change, and reduce our dependence on oil — which most smart people realize is either peaking now, or will in the near future — receive one-fiftieth of that.
Go figure.
Still, the bill is a big shot in the arm for Arizona’s solar and wind industry, which has been struggling to take advantage of the Arizona Corporation Commission’s renewable energy standard.
The Commission mandate requires that the state’s utilities generate 15 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2025.
It’s an admirable goal, but shows you just how antiquated the state’s energy mix is. Right now, Arizona is 46th in the nation for renewable, non-hydroelectric power, with about 0.6 percent of its power from wind, solar and geothermal.
By comparison, Germany, the world leader in wind power generation, is close to 5 percent renewable energy. We’ve got a long way to go to catch up. And somehow, throwing stacks of cash at Wall Street and pennies — relatively speaking — at our climate and energy crisis doesn’t seem to be the answer.
John Collins Rudolf
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[...] It only took the near-collapse of the American financial system to make it happen. The $700 billion federal bailout for Wall Street, to buy up toxic mortgage-backed securities, contains $17 billion for wind, solar and other [...][Continue Reading] [...]
wow
It is very important to point out, as you have, that Germany is 5% solar. They have tackled this issue in a unique way, which has put them in the lead. The U.S. and its states have a very important lesson to learn from Germany. And Denmark. Denmark has 25% of its electricity met by wind, with 3100 megawatts of capacity (the capacity of three large coal plants). 400 MW of this is met with offshore wind, and they plan on boosting their wind electricity production to 40% of total electrical production.
Thanks for the well-written article.
[...] few weeks ago, I blogged about how tax credits for renewable energy like solar and wind were buried in the $700 billion federal credit crisis [...]