Renewable energy ideas for Congress....

Today’s post: Wednesday, 4-15-2009

Here are my ideas on influencing key legislators to back increases in renewable energy that work.

That's the critical path item.

I include two ideas on how to do that below. One might be really powerful and the other has already been proven to work! -- but is not now in place in 99 % of this country. (Changing that IS doable.)

Some legislators are not in favor of cap & trade. Some fear its impact on a weak economy. (They have a legitimate point.) But those same legislators know that as many as 86 % of their constituents & voters believe that more renewable energy will create jobs. And those legislators also want more jobs. Plus even the most conservative want increased renewable energy here for energy independence from imported oil & national security.

I see two doable political compromises.

1. First pass a bill that massively increases our installation of renewable energy. Do it separately if necessary.

(If even compromise cap & trade proposals fail, the same people who voted them down might well support that bill. And once passed & we have a lot more renewable energy, future cap & trade proposals will do better.)

Both the compromises depend on that being done and being effective.

2. Pass cap & trade now; but make it not go into effect until we get 10 % of our energy from renewable energy other than hydropower.

Or --3. Pass cap & trade now that goes into effect right away but takes effect at double the percentage of renewable energy we generate. That way it's very mild now; but 50 % renewable energy would make it take 100 % effect. (That would be safe for the economy and produce disruptive changes within 15 or 20 years but at a pace that both does the job but avoids sudden shocks to the economy.)

Two ways to get more renewable energy installed.

Today, the incentives to install it are weak; and the credit crunch has removed so much financing it's harmed renewable energy companies that were doing great until the crunch shut off their debt financing.

1. First, the chairman of the Federal Reserve is willing to try new ideas to use his powers to finance new jobs. Why not have a bill passed that both requests he find a way to do that for banks that back renewable energy & gives him the authority to do so? (Even if congress won't do that, your group could request this directly from him. Based on what I read recently, he might well do it!)

2. Second, Germany has already proved that massive amounts of renewable energy will be built and readily financeable with no new taxes needed if a program exactly like theirs is enacted to provide feed-in tariffs that guarantee the utilities will buy the power generated at a price that makes it worth doing.

(These contracts make lending on renewable energy as safe as investing in T bills; & it pays better.)

If every state enacted one like Germany's, in 20 years more than 50 % of our energy will be from renewable sources. (They actually got 16 % in 15 years with far less renewable energy potential than we have here. This policy is proven to work.)

In addition in those 20 years we will create up to 6,000,000 jobs.

So ask congress to pass a law that describes in detail the content of the German feed-in tariff & request each state enact that policy and provide those that do some kind of incentive for doing so. (That avoids the states rights folks who might vote against a national requirement to use it that was mandatory.)

PS: A more complete write up on Feed-in tariffs and a story describing the boom in renewable energy when they were enacted in Gainesville Florida here in the US is in my blogpost:

"How renewable energy can reverse the recession....
Wednesday, 3-18-2009" at http://www.renewableenergyarrives.blogspot.com/ .