10-1-06 by dugan
Back from the dead. No, not just the bailout bill, but tax credits for wind and solar energy projects, which for months have been a pawn in the battles of dysfunctional government. Now the credits, which will otherwise expire Dec. 31, are attached to the Senate’s bailout bill, along with a handful of other tax provisions.
The wind and solar credits, without which investment in renewable energy projects will dry up like a petunia in the Mojave, have the support of all 50 state governors, most major business organizations and all environmental groups.
Even the White House supports the credits. But our fine lawmakers and president have squabbled all year about whether they should be "paid for" and how, and how long the credits should be extended. The credit has been attached to one bigger bill after another that is unpalatable to one side or the other. It’s just a grain of sand in a gigantic playground squabble.
If we’re ever going to have cleaner and cheaper energy, it will not be this way. Wind and solar-powered electricity on a cost-saving mass scale is, for instance, critical to having plug-in hybrid cars that are really clean.
Even if the tax credit lives and windmills get built, the power has to get to where people live. And building power transmission lines is a far more contentious political issue. Yet it’s sidewalk hopscotch in comparison to a comprehensive global warming strategy.
So if the renewable energy credits end up dead again, it might be time to look for that nice hillside cave from which we can watch the oceans rise along with the price of gasoline.
Yes, that’s grumpy. But does this government give us any reason to grin?