The Green Comeback
President offers energy checklist
President Obama’s State of the Union address is rightly seen as his opening speech for the 2012 reelection campaign, so that might give hope to the clean energy industry in ways that have been lacking recently.
Oh, promotion of renewables has been around the past couple years, but mostly dressed up as a jobs program or as part of the national security agenda. But this time felt a little different, perhaps even as a worthy goal or as an end in itself.
Heck, he even mentioned a phrase missing of late, “climate change.”
The political reality of Congress this year might be difficult, but the renewable energy has been clamoring for an extension of the production tax credit as a job-saving policy for wind and solar manufacturers and developers. “Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs,” the president said.
In the “average citizen” category most of the attention will be paid to Warren Buffet’s secretary and her tax rate. But one of the select spots was reserved for a wind turbine worker, not a shale gas driller or even a military contractor or high tech engineer.
Although the solar industry is divided on the wisdom of confronting China over trade issues for solar cells, the case for tariffs against Chinese manufacturers got an implicit boost, even before the Commerce Department has determined whether or if duties should be imposed.
“And I will not stand by when our competitors don’t play by the rules. We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration – and it’s made a difference,” Obama said. “Tonight, I’m announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China.”
About the only bi-partisan cheers came from the “all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy” that every president at least pays lip service to. Of course, the trick here is the standard Democratic prescription to eliminate oil subsidies and divert them to clean energy. DOA comes to mind.
But renewable energy use has doubled in recent years, in no small part due to the economic stimulus of 2009.
The other prescription, requirements for clean energy use, got dusted off. A national clean energy standard has dropped off the screen, but it lived again, if only for one night.
One clean energy item that will live beyond this week was brought out, even if only obliquely.
The one who must not be named – Solyndra – has already been used as a hammer on Obama’s energy policies. “Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy,” was Obama’s defense.
But pairing it with decades-old government-funded research that eventually led to success in hydraulic fracturing might be used to blunt that. But that won’t stop his opponents from trying.
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