Author Archives Laura Arnold

SEIA: Poll Shows Continued Strong Voter Support for Solar Energy; 92% Say Develop and Use More Solar

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   October 02, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2012

Poll Reveals Strong Support for Solar Energy Across Political Spectrum on Eve of First Presidential Debate

Hart Research survey shows continued strong voter support for solar energy and for government incentives for solar, consistent with last four annual surveys

-    92 percent of voters believe it’s important for the U.S. to develop and use more solar energy
-    85 percent of voters view solar energy favorably (60 percent very favorable)
-    78 percent of voters say government should support growth of solar energy with incentives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Likely voters in the 2012 election cycle overwhelmingly support solar energy and would like to see the federal government to do more to foster the growing industry, according to a national poll released today. The survey, conducted by independent polling firm Hart Research Associates, showed for the fifth consecutive year that Americans maintain a very favorable view of solar energy and government efforts to encourage the industry’s growth.

The poll found that more than nine out of 10 (92 percent) of likely voters feel that the U.S. should develop and use more solar energy. This support was strong across the political spectrum with 84 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of independents, and 98 percent of Democrats agreeing.

“American voters have spoken loud and clear – they love solar and they want more of it. Republicans, independents, and Democrats are unified in calling on Congress to increase our use of solar energy in America,” said Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Geoff Garin, president of Hart Research Associates, said, “These results clearly show that American voters across the political spectrum have a strong favorable view of solar energy and the solar industry, and they believe that government has an important role to play in allowing this industry to grow and succeed.”

"The consistency of these findings is also impressive," said Molly O'Rourke, partner at Hart Research. "Voters express the same high levels of support across a variety of measures, from their very positive perceptions of solar energy to their enthusiasm for policies that promote greater use of solar."

Voters’ favorable view of solar translates directly into widespread bipartisan support for federal incentives fostering solar energy. Nearly four out of five (78 percent) of voters say the government should provide tax credits and financial incentives to encourage the development and use of solar energy. Fully two-thirds of swing voters (67 percent) chose solar above any other energy source to receive tax and financial incentives.

While voters were unsure about the affordability of solar, Resch says the industry has a good story to tell as costs continue to fall dramatically, making solar an affordable option for millions of families and businesses.

“As an industry, we need to get the word out across the country that solar is an affordable and reliable choice today – not just in California,” said Resch. “Solar is cost-competitive today whether you’re in Phoenix, Arizona or Dayton, Ohio. Families and companies are seeing real savings every day thanks to their decision to go solar.”

The Hart Research poll of 1,206 U.S. voters, including an oversample of swing voters (resulting in 762 swing voter interviews) has a margin of error of ± 2.8%. The swing voter sample included only those respondents who did not indicate a strong or consistent partisan voting history. The poll was conducted online September 4 to 9 and was commissioned by SEIA.

The four prior annual polls examining American attitudes towards solar were conducted by Kelton Research for SEIA and SCHOTT Solar.

Today more than 100,000 Americans work at 5,600 solar energy companies across the nation in all 50 states. The industry more than doubled the amount of solar installed in the U.S. in the second quarter of this year compared to 2011, and growth is expected to continue in the second half of 2012.

The average system price of solar has dropped 50 percent since 2007. Innovations in system financing have made solar more affordable than ever before. Today, major U.S. brands rely on solar to keep costs low for consumers.

The top 10 states for total solar electric capacity are (in descending order): California, New Jersey, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina.

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About SEIA:
Established in 1974, the Solar Energy Industries Association® is the national trade association of the U.S. solar energy industry. Through advocacy and education, SEIA® is building a strong solar industry to power America. As the voice of the industry, SEIA works with its 1,100 member companies to make solar a mainstream and significant energy source by expanding markets, removing market barriers strengthening the industry and educating the public on the benefits of solar energy. Visit SEIA online at www.seia.org.

Background Materials:
-    Poll memo
-    Poll questions
-    Poll infographic
-    2012 Q2 U.S. Solar Market Insight (Sept. 10, 2012) SEIA Statement and Executive Summary
-    Solar Means Business: Top Commercial Solar Customers in the U.S. (Sept. 12, 2012) SEIA Statement and Report

Media Contacts:
Jamie Nolan, JNolan@SEIA.org, 202-556-2886
Monique Hanis, MHanis@SEIA.org, 202-556-2885
Susan DeVico, SusanDV@aol.com, 510-339-1527

Great Workshop Today on Solar Powering Your Community; Big “Thanks” to Speakers and Participants

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   September 28, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   2 Comments

There was a great workshop today in Indianapolis entitled "Solar Powering Your Community: Addressing Soft Costs and Barriers".  This program powered by SunShot which is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy featured presentations from the following speakers:

So our speakers would not have to lug the 160+ book entitled, "Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments", Second Edition, January 2011, created in Partnership with: Solar America Communities, I agreed to take the extra copies and to try to find a good home for them. I also have copies of the excellent PowerPoint presentation that is chockfull of good information.

Personally, I think we should take the resources we received today and attempt to present this program again Indiana. I think the topics presented is worthy of a longer presentation coupled with breakout sessions to allow participants to develop an action agenda to take home to their own local communities.

Is anyone else interested? If so, please let me know by sending me an email to: Laura.Arnold@IndianaDG.net or just call me at (317) 635-1701.

Report: Carbon tax could halve deficit – The Hill’s E2-Wire

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   September 28, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   1 Comments

Dear IndianaDG Readers:

Steven G. Estes, President of WESCO Wind brought this article to my attention earlier this week. His comment to me was:

That saying - "At the Right Place, At the Right Time" may have happened for us....

Thanks, Steve! What do others think about this?

Laura Ann Arnold

Original Article: Report: Carbon tax could halve deficit - The Hill's E2-Wire.

By Ben Geman - 09/26/12 12:38 PM ET    from E2 Wire The Hill's Energy & Environment Blog

Taxing carbon emissions could raise enough money to eventually cut the deficit in half, but policymakers would face tough questions about whether to use the cash to brighten the fiscal outlook or tackle other needs, a report finds.

Carbon tax proposals to help battle climate change are politically dead in Congress right now. But the Congressional Research Service overview nonetheless arrives at a time of renewed interest in the idea from some policy wonks, Democrats, and former GOP lawmakers.
The report finds that imposing an escalating fee that starts at $20 per metric ton could reduce the projected 10-year budget deficit by more than 50 percent, from $2.3 trillion to $1.1 trillion.That estimate relies on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) “baseline” deficit projection.

But the report notes that the same carbon tax would have a much smaller impact on the deficit — cutting it about 12 percent — under CBO’s “alternative” scenario that forecasts a much bigger shortfall.
The report, relying on CBO analysis of carbon costs under a hypothetical cap-and-trade program, estimates that the escalating $20-per-ton tax could raise $88 billion in 2012, rising to $154 billion in 2021.
However, deficit reduction is just one possible use for the cash.

CRS notes that policymakers would face “key trade-offs” in weighing whether to minimize the costs of the tax on society overall “versus alleviating the costs borne by subgroups in the U.S. population or specific domestic industries.”
“Economic studies indicate that using carbon tax revenues to offset reductions in existing taxes – labor, income and investment – could yield the greatest benefit to the economy overall. However, the approaches that yield the largest overall benefit often impose disproportionate costs on lower-income households,” the report finds.
The report delves into other potential uses instead of devoting all carbon tax money to attacking the deficit.
“If Congress were to consider a carbon tax system, a key debate would likely involve the degree to which carbon tax revenues would be returned to households to alleviate the expected financial burden imposed by the carbon tax,” it states.
Also, the tax could hurt energy-intensive manufacturing and other industries that face competition from abroad, so they might need a piece of the pie.
“Policymakers could alleviate this burden through carbon tax revenue distribution or through a border adjustment mechanism. Both approaches may entail trade concerns,” the report notes.
The notion of a carbon tax also raises other tough questions, such as whether it’s levied on sources of fuel like oil production and coal mining, or other points, such as emissions from oil refineries and power plants that burn coal and natural gas, or “downstream” energy uses such as industrial plants and vehicles.
For now, it’s an abstract debate as climate legislation remains frozen on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are seeking to roll back the Environmental Protection Agency’s existing power to regulate carbon emissions.

Cap-and-trade or carbon tax bills face gigantic political hurdles in the current Congress and likely the next one, too.
CRS notes — in somewhat clinical terms — that carbon tax proposals would face strong pushback from powerful industries.
“Certain stakeholders are likely to exercise strong opposition to a carbon tax. These include energy-intensive manufacturers, farmers, and regional energy interests — especially those whose asset values may fall with expected impacts on profitability of owned or leased coal and oil resources,” the report states.
However, there

remains an undercurrent of interest in a carbon tax, which advocates call a more straightforward and efficient way to address carbon emissions than cap-and-trade proposals.
Supporters and policy analysts have held a series of meetings to discuss the idea, which has support from some lawmakers.
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) introduced carbon tax legislation in August.
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) joined with former GOP Reps. Sherwood Boehlert and Wayne Gilchrest in a February Washington Post op-ed that said, “We could slash our debt by making power plants and oil refineries pay for the carbon emissions that endanger our health and environment.”
It called broadly for a “market mechanism such as the sale of carbon allowances or a fee on carbon pollution to lower emissions and increase revenue.”
In addition, former GOP Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) is using a new role at George Mason University to advocate for his idea of a “revenue-neutral” carbon tax under which taxes on emissions would be offset by reductions in other rates.

Reuters: Conservatives urge House Speaker to nix U.S. wind tax credit; Indiana Cong. Stutzman signed the letter

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   September 25, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

Dear Indiana DG Readers:


After seeing this article, I called to Capitol Hill to the office of Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Upton's staff indicated that he did not sign the letter and then they referred me to the staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The staff of the committee then emailed me a copy of the letter which you can download and read for yourself the list of 47 House Republicans who urge elimination of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind. Letter from 47 House Reps to Speaker against PTC

Congressman Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) is the only member of the Indiana House delegation who signed the letter. Others from states neighboring Indiana who signed the letter include:
 

  • Ed Whitfield (KY-01)
  • Justin Amash (MI-03)
  • Randy Hultgren (IL-14)
  • Joe Walsh (IL-08)
  • Brett Gethrie (KY-02)
  • Jim Jordan (OH-04)

 Laura Ann Arnold

P.S. By the way, this letter also slams solar.  The letter dated 9/21/2012 is on the letterhead of Congressman Mike Pompeo (KS-04) states:

"The Obama Administration has poured billions of dollars into subsidizing its favored "green energy" sources. The Solyndra scandal and the administration's sqandering of $535 million in taxpayer dollars is a clear example of this agenda."

Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:07pm GMT

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Forty-seven Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing Speaker John Boehner to eliminate the wind production tax credit, a tax break that has split Republicans and drawn criticism from presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

Democratic President Barack Obama has urged Congress to extend the credit, which dates to 1992 and has support from Republicans in states that are home to wind farms and manufacturing plants, such as Iowa and South Dakota.

The credit has other powerful proponents in big companies that buy wind energy. Heavyweights including Microsoft Corp, Sprint and Hewlett-Packard have urged renewal. The industry calls it vital to ensuring jobs, including wind turbine tower manufacturing in a broad swath of U.S. states.

Republican opposition to renewable energy tax breaks has been galvanized by anger over a failed solar project backed by the Obama administration. Republicans referred to that project, a start-up company called Solyndra, several times in the letter.

"The Obama administration has poured billions into subsidizing its favored green energy sources," reads the letter dated Sept. 21 from House Republicans to Boehner, also a Republican. "Twenty years of subsidizing wind is more than enough."

Signers of the letter include Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee, but does not include members of the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, which is led by Representative Dave Camp.

A spokesman for Boehner said the issue will be addressed after the election.

Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican rival for the presidency in elections on Nov. 6, irked some members of his party when he backed ending the subsidy earlier this year.

Prominent Senate Republicans including Charles Grassley of Iowa are big wind credit supporters and extension is included in Senate legislation still pending.

The House and Senate are expected to make a decision on the wind credit, along with a slew of breaks known as "tax extenders" and the larger issue of individual tax rates, after the elections and before the extenders expire at year's end.

The wind industry says 37,000 jobs would be lost if the tax credit expires and some big companies have already attributed layoffs to the uncertainty, including Siemens. The credit costs about $11 billion a year.

Register for Indianapolis 9/28/12 “Solar Powering Your Community Workshop” Learn Actionable Steps for Adopting Solar in Your Community

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   September 24, 2012  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   1 Comments

This FREE interactive workshop, presented by ICMA through the SunShot Solar Outreach Partnership, will provide actionable information on creating a local-level solar program in Indiana. Areas of focus will include: 1) revising zoning codes and ordinances to allow for solar; 2) streamlining permitting processes to facilitate solar installations; 3) financing solar projects; and 4) installing solar on municipal and other community facilities. Case study examples will highlight successful practices and lessons learned from communities that have undertaken solar projects in these focus areas. If you have questions, please email solar@icma.org.

AICP Credits CM 2.00

When: September 28, 2012

Time: 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Where: Indianapolis City/County Building, 200 E. Washington St., Room T118, Indianapolis, IN

Speakers: Jayson Uppal, Meister Consultants Group, Inc.; Philip Haddix, The Solar Foundation; John Hazlett, City of Indianapolis; David Morley, American Planning Association

Register here: http://www.planetreg.com/E73017445918567

The Solar Outreach Partnership (SolarOPs) is designed to help accelerate solar energy adoption on the local level by providing timely and actionable information to local governments.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative, SolarOPs achieves its goals through a mix of educational workshops, peer-to-peer sharing opportunities, research-based reports, and online resources.

To perform the work of SolarOPs, DOE selected teams led by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability USA. These organizations and their teams help local governments take a comprehensive approach to solar energy deployment by:

  • Conducting outreach and sharing best practices for increasing solar energy use with thousands of local governments across the nation
  • Working in partnership with industry experts and national membership associations to enable local governments across the United States to expand their local solar markets
  • Providing information in relevant areas, such as solar policies and regulations, financial incentives, workforce training, and utility and community engagement.

Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments serves as the foundation for these outreach efforts.

Sunshot

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