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<blockquote type="cite" cite>V<img
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<div>Visionaries An interesting review of tax credits for wind
and solar power.</div>
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<div>Tom Trail</div>
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<blockquote type="cite" cite>Western Progress News Brief</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="right">May 19, 2008</blockquote>
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<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><b><br></b></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite align="center"><b>Congress Fiddles,
Renewable Energy Hits Speed Bump</b><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>This week the <a
href=
"http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WesternProgress/eb39645c40/4a935a07fa/9c0725b4c1"
>Energy Department said</a> that by the year 2030, wind power could
supply 20 percent of the nation's electricity. But renewable energy's
recent momentum could slam to a halt if Congress doesn't extend
federal tax credits for wind and solar energy development before <a
href=
"http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WesternProgress/eb39645c40/4a935a07fa/eb75e26357"
>they expire at year's end</a>.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Congress failed to do so in 2007,
disagreeing over how to pay for the subsidies, and has dragged
its feet on the measure ever since. Yetlawmakers found common ground
in granting a $17 billion tax break over the next five years to the
oil and gas industry, which is reaping windfall profits.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Without a continued stimulus for project
development both wind and solar industries expect significantdrops in
production.With record oil prices and a staggering economy sending a
clear message that the U.S. needs to change direction on energy, this
legislative stall is indefensible.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Even though the <a
href=
"http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WesternProgress/eb39645c40/4a935a07fa/202eabc7cb"
>Senate last month passed</a>the comprehensive <a
href=
"http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WesternProgress/eb39645c40/4a935a07fa/036a225f88"
>Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act</a> that extends the tax credits
through 2016,whichthe House is expected to approve eventually,many
renewable energy investors and industry executives are erring on the
side of caution by <a
href=
"http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WesternProgress/eb39645c40/4a935a07fa/30cb84b94e"
>postponing future projects</a>. In Gila, Arizona, for
example,construction of a $1 billion solar plant that would be the
state's largest is on hold until the stimulus is secured.
AndSunEdison in Beltsville, Maryland is one of several solar companies
advised by banks to postpone any projects that would not be finished
this year unless the credit is extended.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Subsidies for wind and solar date back
three decades, and the renewable energy industry is particularly
sensitive to keeping the credits in place. Tax credits for the wind
industry have lapsed three times in the past decade -- 1999, 2001 and
2003 - which resulted in declines of 93, 73 and 77 percent,
respectively, in new installed wind capacity.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>This type of start-and-stop growth ended
in 2005 with three consecutive tax credit extensions that helped bring
about unparalleled expansion of the wind and solar sectors. Last year,
the wind power industry was responsible for adding almost one-third of
the total new U.S. power capacity and injecting $9 billion into the
national economy. Current employment in wind power has topped
20,000.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Keeping pace but on a smaller scale, the
solar industry grew by 43 percent and, provided the tax incentive is
extended, is planning at least eight new solar projects equivalent to
six coal-fired power plants.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"The extension of the tax credit,"
said <a
href=
"http://cts.vresp.com/c/?WesternProgress/eb39645c40/4a935a07fa/659a873a9d"
>American Wind Energy Association</a> director Randall Swisher, "is
urgently needed to protect tens of thousands of U.S. manufacturing
jobs and create tens of thousands more, and to keep investment flowing
into one of the fastest-growing and brightest sectors of our economy:
renewable electricity."</blockquote>
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<div>Dr. Tom Trail<br>
International Trails<br>
1375 Mt. View Rd.<br>
Moscow, Id. 83843<br>
Tel: (208) 882-6077<br>
Fax: (208) 882-0896<br>
e mail ttrail@moscow.com</div>
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