Inslee Visit Reinforces Need for Policy to Encourage U.S. Leadership in Renewable Energy

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Rep. Inslee (second from right) watches a demonstration of the PECVD 5.7 system with Applied Chairman and CEO Mike Splinter.

What policies will allow the U.S. to claim leadership in climate change and renewable energy? Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) and CEO Mike Splinter talked about this topic during the Congressman’s visit to Applied Materials' Silicon Valley headquarters last week. The Congressman and his staff also toured one of the latest solar PV tools - the PECVD 5.7 system, an ideal example of advanced technology spillover from flat panel display to solar manufacturing.

Representative Inslee authored one of the versions of the "Clean Energy Deployment Administration" (CEDA, or "Green Bank") bill that was passed as part of the House energy and climate package last June. The "Green Bank" is one of the key elements Mike Splinter points to as crucial for creating a strong market for renewable energy in the U.S. Without a low-cost financing option, utilities and large scale energy companies will not be able to make the large scale and long-term investments necessary to make the next generation of clean energy a reality.

During their discussion, Mike Splinter and Congressman Inslee agreed that the federal government can help create the new green energy economy through the creation of a strong renewable electricity standard – 25% by 2025. Both also agreed that a price needs to be placed on carbon, one that reflects true cost and externalities.

Congressman Inslee is a supporter of a comprehensive climate change bill and is hopeful of its 2010 passage. He is encouraged by the strong effort of Senator Lindsey Graham to make this a bipartisan issue as well as the White House agreement to include nuclear and U.S. oil exploration in a final compromise. But Congressman Inslee acknowledges time is running out and there could well be action only on an energy bill in 2010.

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Comments

Although there is a general

Submitted by Jasper on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 06:31.

Although there is a general election coming up soon here in the UK, the next Government's policies are unlikely to affect the boost recently experienced by the solar photovoltaics industry ahead of the introduction of a new Feed-in Tariff in April. Nor should there be anything preventing the takeoff of solar thermal and other renewable technologies when the Renewable Heat Incentive starts in 2011. SolarUK has observed a bottom-up push for renewables from homeowners who see solar thermal as an increasingly cost effective alternative to fossil fuel energy, and this looks set to continue, whatever the political wranglings over climate change and carbon emissions targets.

The current "energy" bill

Submitted by BrianM on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 11:20.

The current "energy" bill will go nowhere. Only a strategic energy bill which includes all forms of energy may satisfy those who will never vote for this bill. And in no case will any congressman who is up for re-election support a cap and trade structure which puts another tax on U.S. citizens. There is no alternative for many individuals in this country for mass transit and it would be decades before there was, even if that tax was put directly to work on mass transit, and we know our current government can make money disappear into thin air. Small companies that already spend a lot of money on fuel would be seriously impaired. My own brother has a block plant and a construction business running 10's of trucks all day. Both consume a large amount of fuel. As well, we would be smart to stop mentioning the euphemism "climate change" as it is a thinly veiled attempt to avoid saying global warming, whose backers and "scientists" are daily going down in the flames of their shame and bad science. They cannot even find the data that they based their false claims on. As a company who exists by science, we should stop repeating the propaganda of bad science. Let’s change the topic to a strategic energy plan for the nation which can include the 25% by 2025 for alternate forms of energy including LNG, nuclear, wind and solar. Let’s incentivize the move, for example by setting the mandates by law and making energy investment against the plan a tax credit. Incentives always work better than penalties.