Congress Politicizes Energy Incentives, 116,000 Jobs In Jeopardy

By Alisha Fowler and Jesse Jenkins

On Tuesday the Senate failed to pass the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (50-44).
The bill contained, among other things, critical production tax
incentives for the rapidly growing renewable energy industry. The
Senate may get another chance to vote on the incentives this month, but
their bickering, politicization of the issue and ultimate stalling is
looking more and more like a de facto decision: No to clean energy.

If the renewable energy industry is unable to count on the
incentives for next year they will count them out as they shape their
workforce plans and pace of development. In other words, they'll cut
thousands of jobs and scale back investments as they prepare to weather
yet another expiration of the critical renewable energy incentives.

Yesterday's front page headline of the Sacramento Bee was
hard to miss, "Gas Prices Soar, Congress Bickers." A comparable
headline comes to mind for the renewable energy tax incentives:
"Congress Politicizes Energy Incentives, 116,000 Jobs In Jeopardy."

Continued growth of the rapidly expanding renewable energy industry
would be a win-win for America's economy and our environment. Several
foreign wind energy companies were just starting to open U.S.
manufacturing plants, but they will not continue let alone expand while
Congress remains on the fence. (We should also note that these
companies are FOREIGN precisely because of this kind of pervading
political uncertainty in the United States surrounding clean energy
investment.)

This kind of politicized debate and partisan gridlock on renewable
energy incentives was not as big of a deal for the industry, or our
national economy a few years ago. In 1999, for example, the wind
industry was a fifth of its current size and pretty insignificant in
our overall economic picture. Now, however, due to several years of
rapid and robust growth in the wind and solar industries in particular,
more than 100,000 jobs, tens of billions of dollars, and the ability of
the U.S. to be a world leader in clean energy technology are at stake.

Trade organizations representing renewable-energy companies on
Capitol Hill are already reporting less growth and increasing anxiety
over whether the incentives will be available. The American Wind Energy
Association estimates that more than 116,000 U.S. jobs and nearly $19 billion in investment
could be lost in just one year if the incentives are not renewed.
Monique Hanis, spokesperson for the Solar Energy Industries
Association, reports that job losses are already happening as the
outlook becomes increasingly uncertain. Hanis pointed out
that, "In the long term what [this delay] means is that the U.S. is
going to give up its leadership position in the technology."

So what happened? Why is Congress fiddling while more than a hundred
thousand good jobs and an entire year's worth of clean energy
deployment are at stake? The popular story
is that Republican obstructionists are standing in the way of a
progressive clean energy agenda. From the recent demise of the Climate
Security Act, to efforts to re-invest oil and gas subsidies, to the
renewable energy incentives, it's all the fault of Republican
obstructionists protecting fossil fuel industry turf. While there's
definite truth to that, and Republicans have overwhelmingly come down
on the wrong side of most smart energy issues, if we're really
committed to seeing a solid investment in a clean energy future it
behooves us to look a little closer than that.

Truth be told, demagogue's on both sides of the isle are
responsible for the current imperiled fate of our nation's renewable
energy industries. The bill itself is not that controversial (who
doesn't want 100,000 good jobs to stick around?!) but it has been
complicated over the offsets included in the legislation. Both the
Senate and the House have passed different versions of a renewable
energy incentives bill several times since convening in 2006, so that's
not the source of conflict. Disagreement begins when they debate how to
pay for it; or whether or not to just swipe the national credit card
again and tack on the relatively minor cost to the ballooning national
deficit.

Ironically, it's Republican lawmakers who argue there is no need to
find "offsets" of "pay for" provisions to cover the cost of extending
the incentives (so much for the former party of fiscal conservatism,
eh!?). Otherwise, they see the bill as a just another tax increase and
have vowed to block it. House Democrats, on the other hand,
currently refuse to pass the bill without the offsets to cover the
cost. They have repeatedly linked the bill to repealing subsidies or
instituting windfall taxes on oil companies - something they know will
instantly jeopardize bipartisan support (not to mention lose at least
one "Oil Patch" Democrat). While this time around, Senate Dems found
another "pay for" provision (taking a bite out of rich hedge fund
managers' profits - perhaps slightly more palatable to the GOP than oil
profits), the vote on the renewable energy incentives bill was brought
to the floor directly after another vote on repealing tax breaks for
Big Oil. Not surprisingly, both votes failed. Again.

Of course, "Drill! Drill! Drill!"
Republicans who want to drill for oil in ANWR (and everywhere else!) as
opposed to developing fossil fuel alternatives deserve to be singled
out. And perhaps Democrats scored some political points. But the long
term effects of stunting the renewable energy sector will be far
greater than any short term gains in an election year.

So forget "pay-go" for now, and give renewables the green light they need.
It's not that costly when you compare it to the war in Iraq. Right now,
this is not about squabbling Republicans or Democrats. It is about
supporting an industry that will seriously stumble without government
assistance. It is time to stop messing around with a bill that has
immediate and hard-hitting effects on our economy, our ability to be an
international clean energy leader, and ultimately our energy prosperity.

Comments

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By club penguin on 2009 06 05

I would say that if we don't take drastic measures soon to improve both our economic problems as far as jobs are concerned as well as our energy conservation efforts, we are going to find ourselves in a real severe crisis much greater then the one we are currently in. The 700 billion dollar bailout is costing America jobs everyday as banks tighten their noose on loan approvals making it more difficult for established small business owners to grow. The big banks who are largely responsible for this crisis get there hands washed clean by the feds while payday loan shops get blamed and even banned in some states.

By bedroom furniture on 2009 04 01

If there are two things we don't need right now are the losing of more jobs and stopping the development of green energy. Of all the things that congress wastes our money on, you would think they would at least spend a little bit of it on something useful.

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By LayoffGossip on 2009 01 07

According to some analyst, this problem occurs because of the improper practice of some lenders. Financial Crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situation in which some institutions loose a large part of their value. When a financial emergency strikes, taking on a budget requires strength, courage and sometimes, someone else in the ring. Similar to a great sumo wrestler

By Personal Loans on 2008 11 22

I agree, it seems to me that "big Government" is more concerned about filling their own pockets and their own agendas instead of the peoples. Wasn't that the purpose of the goverment in the first place? I would say that if we don't take drastic measures soon to improve both our economic problems as far as jobs are concerned as well as our energy conservation efforts, we are going to find ourselves in a real severe crisis much greater then the one we are currently in. The 700 billion dollar bailout is costing America jobs everyday as banks tighten their noose on loan approvals making it more difficult for established small business owners to grow. The big banks who are largely responsible for this crisis get there hands washed clean by the feds while payday loan shops get blamed and even banned in some states for predatory loan practices. How Just is that? Guess it depends on how much you give Washington.

I think that 700 billion dollar bailout would have gone a lot further in improving the economy, the job situation and our overall economic outlook had we placed even just a small cut of the bailout money in the energy industry. More jobs, less dependency on oil, etc.

Just imagine what could be accomplished when our government stops bailing out criminals and starts focusing on the needs of the country and it's people.

By Cash Advance on 2008 10 16

With our economy going into a slump, why is it that political figures are destroying valid financial options? Payday loans are an essential part of the U.S. financial system, providing loans to those who have bad or no credit that need the money fast. Yet, for one reason or another, legislators are targeting this financial system. Some states, such as Georgia and North Carolina, have even banned the industry all together! The politics behind it is simple; banks are lobbying the legislators to try and destroy their oncoming competition, and the legislators are falling for it. Even taking out the fact that banks are trying to take away your financial choices and freedoms so they can have a monopoly on loans, the corruption of our politics is simply wrong. Our opinions must be heard, and our freedom of choice, financial or not, should not be dampened on the soul fact on one person's financial gain.

By Payday Loan Advocate on 2008 10 07

This has happenend too many times in the past, and it gave a serious blow to clean generating industries. Idiots. One of the purposes of having a congress is to make strategical decisions. Well, what about it then?

We have to get more engineers and scientists into politics.

By Siphon on 2008 06 15