Posted on 01/22/2017 3:27:09 PM PST by Olog-hai
President Donald Trump has disputed climate change, pledged a revival of coal and disparaged wind power, and his nominee to head the Energy Department was once highly skeptical of the agency’s value. What this means for states’ efforts to promote renewable energy is an open question.
States that are pushing for greater reliance on wind and solar power are not quite sure what to expect as Trump takes over. Many of them depend heavily on federal renewable-energy tax credits, grants and research, much of which comes from the Energy Department.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Trump’s pick to lead the department, presents a contradictory figure: A Texas oil promoter, he also oversaw a huge expansion of wind-energy production while governor. When he ran for president in 2011, he included Energy on a list of departments he thought should be abolished, though he disavowed the idea Thursday at his Senate confirmation hearing.
“We don’t know what version of Perry is going to show up,” said Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, Austin. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
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Wind and solar power have no place where the power grid is in place.
I have used solar power in an off-grid location for 16 years, and it is a godsend there, but it makes no sense anywhere else.
Its a boondoggle.
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Here in CA, my energy provider, charges me tiered pricing for their product (electricity) I use. They charge me a “High usage Surcharge” penalty if I use too much. Geez, you’d think we were in an energy crisis.
They “work” mechanically and electrically. But they don’t work economically. Trump and Congress have complete control over federal funds paid to companies and individuals to install them. Shut,off the subsidies.
Wind and solar power are unreliable and are rarely cost effective. They would have faced a bleak future even with Jill Stein as president.
A few facts about renewables:
The Republican Congress extended the PTC (Production Tax Credit) for wind generation. The wind PTC was retroactively applied to 2015 and extended through 2016, after which it will decline each year until it fully expires in 2020.
The industry fully knows it will be done, gone forever, and they are fine with that, because it’s already possible to generate utility-scale wind at a cost that is competitive with other forms of generation without the PTC. They are ready and able to operate without government subsidies.
Solar is different because it has not yet achieved anywhere near the cost efficiency of wind, and will follow a different curve. The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar will remain at the current 30-percent rate through 2019, after which it will fall to 26 percent in 2020, 22 percent in 2021, and 10 percent in 2022. So it too is set to sunset (pun intended).
In return for these goodies, Congress in 2015 lifted the 40-year ban on crude oil exports that began with the 1970s Oil Embargo Crisis.
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>> “Why?
Either it works or it doesn’t. Trump has no control over that.” <<
Surely you have better cognition than that?
For on-grid sites, it just plain makes no sense at all, but the power of government is forcing it down our throats.
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Perry said he believes in man made climate change at the confirmation hearing. Whether he believes it or not it is a very bad sign. If he does believe it, bad. if he doesn’t believe it still bad because one he’s lying and two he believes he needs to say it to get confirmed which means the battle is almost lost.
Obozo thought that making gas and oil expensive, and coal un-mine-able would advance “green energy. What a moron. Does he know how inefficient those turbines are when there are no tax c4redits, they have to be replaced every 20 years and the bad parts re-cycled?
And, talk about ugly. Geez. Good bye to turbines.
Weather and sunlight creates uncertainty for wind and solar power!!!
They are admitting they are not viable businesses without massive government subsidies and mandates.
It doesn’t “create uncertainty”
Wind and solar are OVER.
Reagan’s victory over Carter in 1980 ended the alternative energy boondoggle that was going on at that time.
Elections have consequences.
I agree, however. 100% expensing with Trump's tax plan tells me they pay for the Mill and expense it 100% right up front and they get essentially free KW's their after. They have made Nuclear a dicey proposition ( they beat it's price/KW-hr ) and they have been cited as a reason a couple of plants have closed. I don't know it Trump's tax plan will accelerate their uptake, even without the subsidy.
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Bullshit!
Bird killing without good reason needs a criminal penalty.
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>> “Wind and solar are OVER.” <<
They certainly should be!
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That’s funny, it’s what all the liberals say.
You sure about that? Every state has had to implement its own “Renewable Energy Standards” that REQUIRE buying renewable energy.
What?!?! You mean it’s not profitable?
Is shoveling up the dead birds a green job?
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No, you’ve not been paying attention.
The liberals say wind power should get a special break.
Sensible people say end it now.
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