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It would be an engaging exercise in political pressure, wouldn’t it? To get every state governor who has affirmed that solar energy development is vital to their state’s future to convey that message, forcefully and individually, to each of the presidential candidates.

Solar Nation is looking for your help!

The idea comes from a letter written earlier this month by California’s Governor Schwarzennegger to President Bush, in which he urged the President to support solar tax credits in the energy bill then coming up for a final vote in Congress. As we now know, Senate Republicans killed the tax credit elements before the President could even carry out his veto threat. But even if this president is unresponsive, what about those dozen and a half presidential candidates jostling for voters’ attention?

The candidates’ attitude to renewables has been charted by the League of Conservation Voters (available here). And the attitudes range from “no articulated position” (Giuliani on efficiency targets) to “90% carbon reductions by 2050″ (Richardson on carbon caps). But the fact is that even the stronger supporters of renewables tend to leave the topic out of their everyday campaign rhetoric, perhaps considering that it will not engage voters in the way that health care and the Iraq war do.

Would their rhetoric change if they were the targets of letters, from a significant number of governors, that spelled out the value of solar energy support to each state’s economy, environment and public health? Would that move candidates like McCain, Kucinich and Romney from their meaningless position on energy efficiency of “general support but no target specified” to one that forced them to actually make a commitment?

Solar Nation will be taking up this challenge early in the new year, and is appealing to all readers with actual or potential lines of communication to their state governor (either through an advocacy organization or independently) to be a part of this challenge. Would your governor stand behind such a letter? Can we work together with your governor’s senior energy advisor to craft a letter appropriate to your state’s needs?

If you can and would like to be a part of this effort, we’d like to hear from you soon. Please contact chris@solar-nation.org to get started.

from Review Journal 12/18/07

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Nellis Air Force Base on Monday celebrated the completion of the largest photovoltaic installation in North America, which generates one-quarter of the base’s power needs or enough to supply 13,000 houses with electricity.

The Nellis project is similar to photovoltaic systems at commercial buildings and homes, although the plant is much larger, producing 14 megawatts on a power plant site covering 140 acres.

“It’s the technological equivalent of the first jumbo jet in airlines,” said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “It’s on a scale we’ve never seen in the United States. What we’re finding is that you can use photovoltaic power on a very large scale.”

The photovoltaic plant provides electricity that can be used on base, although excess power can be fed into the electric grid.

Photovoltaic systems convert sunlight into direct current. When light hits a silicon photovoltaic cell, the energy kicks electrons loose, causing electricity to flow. The panels at Nellis are connected to 54 inverters that convert the direct current into alternating current.

 Resch said the Nellis facility is different than solar thermal plants, such as 64-megawatt Nevada Solar One at

Resch said photovoltaic systems can serve as a good backup system for police, fire and emergency services. Although it’s not economically feasible to store power from photovoltaic systems for use after dark, researchers are working on storage systems, he said.

“The best way to secure a healthy and prosperous economy is to develop our affordable, reliable local resources,” Gov. Jim Gibbons said in a statement. “Nellis Air Force Base is leading the country in solar energy deployment, a move that is good for the environment and our nation’s energy security alike.”

The project is a response to President Bush’s challenge to reduce the country’s “addiction” to foreign oil, said William Andrews, assistant secretary of the Air Force.

“This is an important first,” Andrews said.

The federal official said other military bases will be following Nellis’ example and establishing their own power generation systems that use either renewable energy or clean fossil fuels.

Andrews said the government next month will issue a request for proposals on military power plants. The administration official said other solar projects may be built at a military base in

Projects such as the Nellis solar plant provide the military with a backup source of power in case a bird flying into a transmission line or a terrorist attack knocks out the electrical grid, Andrews said.

The Nellis solar plant provides clean energy, he said, and is less costly than buying power from Nevada Power Co. Nellis will save $1 million each year in power bills.

The Air Force is buying the power at a fixed price of 2.2 cents a kilowatt hour for 20 years, but Nevada Power is bearing a large part of the cost. The electric company is paying the government an undisclosed price for solar energy credits.

 Photovoltaic power typically costs about 20 cents per kilowatt hour, Resch said, noting that prices have dropped by 95 percent since 1980.

Nevada Power buys solar power credits from the Nellis project and uses the credits to satisfy state requirements for use of renewable energy. With the credits, Nevada Power will comply with the state solar and nonsolar renewable energy requirements in 2008, said Michael Yackira, CEO of

If Sierra Pacific Power were allowed to buy some of the credits, both utilities would satisfy state law on renewable energy and solar power in particular, Yackira said.

The solar facility is a joint project of the Air Force, MMA Renewable Ventures, SunPower Corp. and Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas. MMA Renewable got equity backing from CitiGroup and Allstate Insurance while John Hancock Financial Services provided long-term debt financing and Merrill Lynch helped with construction financing, said MMA CEO Matt Cheney.

 Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0420.

December 17, 2007

by Scott Sklar, The Stella Group, Ltd.

Everyone in the renewable energy community tried to put a good face on it, but let’s face it — we have a second recent Energy Bill with little support for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Right now, the monied interests are framing the debate and the country is losing.

Now to begin, I was pleased to see an increase in automobile mileage standards, which is obviously needed to cut imports. However, it is embarrassing that not only Europe has surpassed us with such standards, but China as well.

Secondly, the commitment to biofuels was very significant. The Bill included a 36 billion gallon Renewable Fuels Standard of which nearly a third has to be dedicated to next-generation cellulosic biofuels.

Throughout the process, there was also some dark humor, as Field Palmer from Green Chip Review wrote: “I mean nothing — absolutely nothing — could prepare us for the reality of peak oil, the caustic tide of global warming or WWIII over oil like the CAFE Standards. Just imagine the ramifications of our national fleet getting 35 mpg by 2020. I know what you’re thinking…Who needs solar, geothermal, or wind power if your truck can get 22.2 mpg? Never mind the average light duty vehicle gets 21.6 mpg right now.”

Over $21 million was invested in ads and high paid lobbyists by electric utilities and the oil and gas industry, which resulted in an Energy Bill with no tax credit extensions and enhancements and no portfolio standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

As a 2004 article in the Boston Globe on the 2005 Energy Bill points out, “analysis of tens of thousands of pages of lobbying records shows that entities with a stated interest in energy policy spent $387,830,286 lobbying Washington last year. They also paid tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions to officials putting together the package at the White House and on Capitol Hill.”

According to The Hill, a leading newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, “Southern Company, by spending huge sums both on lobbying and on political campaigns, is among the biggest power players in Washington. The utility, which reported $14.4 billion in revenues in 2006, helped derail an administration plan to create a national electricity market three years ago.”

Southern’s argument is that the RPS would raise costs for its 4.3 million customers in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Other Southeastern utilities, such as Louisiana-based Entergy, have joined Southern in arguing their area doesn’t have sufficient renewable sources of power.

“In fact, they do,” said Leon Lowery, a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Democratic aide. Lowery and other RPS supporters say the regional differences in renewable power are overblown, because there are already 6 megawatts of biomass that would qualify. The Bingaman bill also states that improvements in the efficiency at hydroelectric power plants would count as a renewable, as would landfill gas used to produce electricity, Lowery noted.

Rudy Giuliani is also one of the utility companies’ strongest supporters. Perhaps not surprisingly, his law firm, Bracewell & Giluliani LLP was hired by these groups to lead the intense lobbying against the Senate energy bill, which, according to a December 2007 article from ThinkProgress.org would have forced utility companies to “boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020.”

Not to be outdone by the electric utilities, the oil and gas industry ran full page ads in The Washington Post for weeks deriding the Energy Bill as a “Tax Bill,” drowning out environmental and advocacy groups who had contrary points-of-view that these industries have had their highest profits in history and the $21 billion in offsets for clean energy tax credits represented a miniscule amount for them.

According to Bloomberg News data from an April 2007 article in the Washington Post:

“Exxon Mobil, the world’s biggest oil company, said profit climbed 10 percent to a first-quarter (2007) record after higher gasoline and diesel prices increased refining profit. Profit rose to $9.28 billion from $8.4 billion in the comparable period a year earlier, the Irving, Texas company said in a statement yesterday. Revenue fell 2 percent, to $87.2 billion. Refining profit rose 50 percent, as the company increased fuel output at its 45 plants and as growing demand and breakdowns held back competing producers.”

The Energy Bill included $10 billion worth of taxes over 10 years basically on the five top oil and natural gas companies — BP, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell, and Exxon Mobil Corp. as part of the $21 billion in “Pay as you Go” offsets for the clean energy tax incentives.

If you’re curious, you should look up the campaign contributions of big oil to each of the following senators:

Senator Alexander from Tennessee, Senator Allard from Colorado, Senator Barrasso from Wyoming, Senator Bennett from Utah, Senator Bond from Missouri, Senator Brownback from Kansas, Senator Bunning from Kentucky, Senator Burr from North Carolina, Senator Chambliss from Georgia, Senator Coburn from Oklahoma, Senator Cochran from Mississippi, Senator Corker from Tennessee, Senator Cornyn from Texas, Senator Craig from Idaho, Senator Crapo from Idaho, Senator DeMint from South Carolina, Senator Dole from North Carolina, Senator Domenici from New Mexico, Senator Ensign from Nevada, Senator Enzi from Wyoming,  Sentor Graham from South Carolina, Senator Gregg from New Hampshire, Senator Hagel from Nebraska, Senator Hutchison from Texas, Senator Inhofe from Oklahoma, Senator Isakson from Georgia, Senator Kyl from Arizona, Senator Landrieu from Louisiana, Senator Lott from Mississippi, Senator Martinez from Florida, Senator McConnell from Kentucky, Senator Roberts from Kansas, Senator Sessions from Alabama, Senator Shelby from Alabama, Senator Specter from Pennsylvania, Senator Stevens from Alaska, Senator Sununu from New Hampshire, Senator Vitter from Louisiana, Senator Voinovich from Ohio, and Senator Warner from Virginia.

(Search on the names of the PACs and of the top 3 C-level execs of each company in which you’re interested).

Some clean energy advocates have stated “we can win” tax credits next year, but history shows rather conclusively that no major bills pass Congress during a Presidential election year; however, that doesn’t mean short term tax extender packages can’t pass.

Other optimists point out that we did get some programs in the Energy Bill, which is true. So let’s look at the most significant program: Energy Loan Guarantees. The Bill provides $25 billion for nuclear, $10 billion for renewables, $10 billion for coal to liquids, $2 billion for uranium enrichment, and $2 billion for coal to gas. That means $39 billion for iterations of conventional energy and $10 billion for renewables. Even then, these funds have to be appropriated — and I am willing to bet the conventional industries get their full appropriations while the renewables will not. Paying attention to the political subtext, rather than the press releases, is surely in order here.

I want to be clear here about the Congressional Leadership of House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid, who had teed-up comprehensive energy legislation that in both legislative language and “spirit” provided energy efficiency and renewable energy the finest blend of public policies. Even at the last minute, they were working to resolve language issues regarding daylighting and inclusion of geoexchange.

I believe Reid’s statement was right on target when he said, “Today, America consumes 21 million barrels every single day, most of it from unstable regions of the world. That’s one billion American dollars going overseas — every day — to pay for our oil addiction. Those 21 million barrels we will use today — and the 21 million-plus barrels more we’ll use tomorrow — has created a three-pronged crisis: It threatens our economy, our national security and our environment.”

In the face of it, lets hope that the national will can be translated into political will. Right now, the monied interests are framing the debate and the country is losing.

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate dealt a losing hand to all those who believe in solar power as a vital component of our energy future.

By a vote of 59-40, just one vote short of the number needed to cut off debate, the Senate failed to include a tax title in the 2007 energy bill that would have provided investment and production tax credits for renewable energies.

Many people have worked long and hard this year to secure a government commitment of support for solar and other nascent renewable industries, including solar citizens like yourself, Congressional Democratic leadership, environmental and conservation groups, industry associations, and scientific bodies.  And although representatives and senators were left in no doubt about the importance of the legislation to America’s future, the peculiarities of the American way of politics trumped common sense and hope.  Senators from states where the oil and gas industry lobby is strongest voted to continue support for the industry, even though the proposed tightening of tax breaks would have amounted to only 1%-2% of its net profits.  To see which senators voted against the tax title measure, check the list at the end of this message.  (Look closely and you’ll find one Democrat who voted ‘nay’, and one presidential candidate who failed to vote at all).

Late yesterday evening, the Senate finally voted on what was left of the bill.  Absent investment tax credits, production tax credits and a national renewable electricity standard (RES), the bill sailed through by a vote of 85-12.  It will now go back to the House, then on for signature by President Bush.  And what the President signs will contain CAFE standards for automobile mileage standards, a renewable fuels mandate, and provisions for energy efficiency in federal government departments.  For renewables, there is practically nothing.

The timing of the vote may strike historians as curious in years to come;   half a world away in Bali, attendees at the UN global warming conference were working toward final agreement on long-term measures to mitigate climate change while the U.S. Senate was rewarding the oil and gas industry for its long-term support.

That renewable energy development in America has suffered a setback is not in question.  But reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.  Congressional Democrats have stated that they intend to resurrect the RES and tax credit issues in their next session, perhaps in a separate, dedicated bill.  And lobbyists for renewable industries have vowed to keep up pressure on legislators from now until the November elections.

For all those solar citizens who took the time this year to call, fax or e-mail their legislators over this issue, we say a loud and heartfelt “THANK YOU!”  And yes, you were heard.  In the week before Thanksgiving, the House of Representatives took the tax title off the table;   the uprush of public outrage caused by this maneuver forced the lower chamber to restore the funding in short order.  Did this matter, given the final result?  It certainly did, because now no-one on Capitol Hill can be in any doubt that renewables have a high level of support among their constituents.  This should impact Congress’ decision-making as an election year unfolds.

For news on the Senate vote from RenewableEnergyAccess.com, click here.

For Solar Nation commentary, click here.

And the joy of the season, and all seasons, to you.

Solar Nation

Friends-

Some days are uneventful, with little but the promise of extra pie for dessert to get you through.  And then–some days are pivots upon which the course of history turns, moments in time when each of us are called upon to decide the kind of future we want for ourselves and for our children, and take to the ramparts. Tomorrow is one such day.

Tomorrow, Thursday, the Senate will vote on a revised energy bill that includes critical solar investment tax credits necessary to bring solar into the mainstream.  Negotiators have jettisoned the renewable electricity standard (RES) and altered some of the revenue-raising tax provisions to make it more palatable to some oil-aligned Senators and the White House.  But the vote will be extremely close - the bill needs 60 votes to pass, and the opposition is burning up the phone lines, urging Senators not to vote for a bill that eliminates unneeded production incentives for the oil and gas industry.  Word is we are ONE VOTE SHORT.

Can you take a moment to call your Senator, immediately? Find their number here.

You might tell your Senator that the future of the country is dependent on our ability to transition to renewable energy, and that a failure to act now would be a dereliction of duty that future historians will rue for centuries.  But put it in your own words.

Talking points, bill text, and bill summary can all be found here.

Forget the pie. Make the call. Act now or no complaining later.

Onwards-

The Vote Solar Team

The Vote Solar Initiative
300 Brannan Street, Suite 609
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.votesolar.org

Solar Energy Industries

Association

Weekly

Newsletter 12/10/2007

Energy Bill Update – Expect Vote on Compromise Energy Package This Week – Call Your Republican Senators!

SEIA Members,

As we reported on Friday, Senate and House negotiators have been working over the weekend to develop a revised energy bill that can pass the Senate. We expect that the revised legislation will be introduced and voted on this week. Any compromise that comes out of the negotiations will likely address the two main concerns of the White House and Senate Republican leadership, namely: (1) the 15 percent national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) and (2) the increase in taxes on the oil and gas industries in the tax package. While it is unclear if the President will sign a bill that passes the Senate, we have indication that the negotiators have incorporated some of the White House’s recommendations into the compromise package.

We expect that there will be a tax title, and therefore an opportunity to include the solar tax credits passed by the House. We need your voice to urge the Senate to pass the compromise legislation with strong provisions for solar. The House-passed version of the bill contains extensions of the commercial and residential ITC for eight and six years, respectively. (See below for full details.)

Keep the Pressure on Your Republican Senators!

With the revised bill expected to receive a vote this week, you must continue to call on Republican Senators to pass an energy bill with strong solar provisions. To locate your Senators’ phone number, go to: http://capwiz.com/re-action/go/GENenergyvotecall

Talking Points:

• I work for (name of company) in your district (describe the company)
• The solar investment tax credits in H.R. 6 are critical to our company’s business and must be part of the energy bill this year!
• The solar tax credits would decrease energy costs, increase energy independence, and create more jobs in your district
• We need you to support an Energy Bill that includes the solar tax provisions.

As a reminder, the House version of the bill:

• Provides an eight-year extension (through December 31, 2016) of the existing 30 percent Investment Tax Credit for businesses under Section 48 of the tax code.
• Removes the prohibition barring utilities from using the section 48 Investment Tax Credit.
• Provides the ability for commercial filers to claim the Investment Tax Credit against the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
• Provides a six-year extension (through December 31, 2014) of the existing 30 percent Investment Tax Credit for residential solar electric and solar water heating property, and raises the cap on the credit for solar electric property to $4,000.
• Provides the ability for personal filers to claim the Investment Tax Credit against the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

For full details on SEIA’s position, visit:

http://seia.org/itc.php

Greens need to learn how to celebrate their friends and their movement

Posted by David Roberts  02 Dec 2007

I’ve run into a lot of sentiment along the lines of this comment thread — harumphing about how weak and insufficient the impending energy bill is — and it seems crazy and wrongheaded to me.

I urge you to check out this post by Josh Dorner on the post-2000 history of energy bill negotiations. Remember what it’s been like.

Since I started at Grist, I’ve been writing about a Republican president and Congress trying over and over again to pass energy legislation focused on drilling, mining, and doling out subsidies. Their greed and overreach were such that they bungled it again and again, until the 2005 Energy Act, which was a slightly scaled down version of the same old thing.

That act was part and parcel of what energy policy has been in this country more or less since Ronald Reagan walked in the White House: a monomaniacal focus on extraction and supply coupled with generous corporate welfare.

In just over a year, Democrats, with a small majority in the House and a knife-edge margin in the Senate, have pulled together an energy bill that contains:

1. The first CAFE boost since 1975. Even if you don’t think CAFE is crucial energy policy (I don’t), it ain’t nothing, and it is of extraordinary symbolic significance. It’s going to be the headline.
2. A 15% Renewable Energy Standard — a clear statement of support for a new energy direction, echoing and amplifying state-level efforts.
3. Billions in subsidies for clean energy.
4. Boosted energy efficiency and green building standards.
5. Yes, yes, a massive, horrendous boost in biofuels, but even on that front there are environmental safeguards attached that were absent in early negotiations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Photo: speaker.gov.

The distance between this bill and where were were a year ago is remarkable. And it is a credit to the leadership.

If you’re determined to think that all politicians are craven simps, go ahead, but it’s hard for me to see what would count of evidence of boldness and commitment on Nancy Pelosi’s part if this doesn’t.

Don’t think she’s been tiptoeing around. Sen. Pete Domenici, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, is so pissed off at her he’s pulling out of the energy bill process. He’d gotten the impression that the RES (aka RPS) was off the table, but Pelosi’s pushed it back on. Says the irritated and possibly soon to be steamrolled Domenici:

RPS may not be the only deviation from the negotiated bill text, as the Speaker appears willing to take advantage of the lack of a formal conference committee process and institute other changes in the bill as she sees fit. 

You’ll recall that when they were in control, Republican leadership regularly pulled procedural shenanigans that made this look like patty cakes. But still, Pelosi isn’t playing by Queensbury Rules. She’s throwing elbows.

It wasn’t just leading Republicans Pelosi had to outmaneuver. As this NYT story makes clear, she’s also gone head to head with Rep. John Dingell, one of the most powerful committee chairs in recent history, and pulled him in line:

Mr. Dingell said that all sides had compromised to get a good deal on the energy bill, and he took credit for safeguarding the interests of the auto industry. In a telephone interview, he praised Ms. Pelosi and said his disagreements with her had been useful.

…

Outside observers, however, said Mr. Dingell had capitulated after realizing he could not win, especially given high oil prices. “The speaker basically took him on and won,” said Dan Becker, an environmental consultant.

Pelosi’s been fighting hard and smart, and she’s done so out of what everyone who knows her describes as a genuine passion for renewable energy.

Please explain to me why the first reaction to this should be grumbling about how it’s not enough. What kind of political message does that send? What incentive does that give anyone to follow Pelosi out onto this limb?

You know what nobody likes? Nobody likes people who do nothing but judge and condemn and enforce in-group purity and piss on everyone’s shoes, including their friends’ shoes. Nobody wants to make any effort to please those people. Nobody even wants to get stuck in an elevator with them.

Of course this bill is not enough. Nothing will ever be enough, I guarantee you. But it’s a victory, and you know what people do like? People like winning. They like being on the winning team. They like winners. They want to hang around the winners, and act like them, and date them, and name drop them.

So please, take a moment for some strutting. Take strength from this victory, and give strength. Hand out some props for a job well done. Make politicians feel like there’s social and political capital to be gained by going green — if you do that, they’ll be back for more.

The arc of history is bending in our direction. Celebrate it. Tell everyone you know about it. Tell them about this: