U.S. Renewable Energy Leaders: Don't Count on Carbon Price Alone

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52417

Proclaiming "give us a chance, we'll deliver" and "2009 will be a new beginning," leaders of several renewable energy groups this week asserted electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydro can help the U.S. make substantial progress toward mitigating the buildup of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere.

But some, such as Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association, acknowledged that, "raising the cost of carbon won't do the job alone...we're going to need to be using everything we can."

The briefing, hosted on Capitol Hill by the non-profit Energy and Environmental Institute, was the most recent political rally of sorts by renewable energy interests in the face of tidal waves of advertising from fossil-fuel-fired trade groups and coalitions defending their industries' tax incentives in the name of low-cost electricity and oil and gas company stock ownership.

The impact that this latest effort will have on the bid to extend the investment and production tax credits remains to be seen. If there was a reason to be more hopeful, it was not evident throughout the 100-plus attendees packing the briefing room in the Russell Senate Office Building. If anything, some industry backers seem to be resigning themselves to a one-year extension of the tax credits, leaving the chance to rebuild them with the next President and the 111th Congress.

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More support for increasing investment in manufacturing infrastructure for wind, batteries and solar should be the top priorities.