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House Passes Energy Bill with Renewable Fuels Provisions

Domestic fuel John Davis September 16th, 2008The U.S. House has approved a measure that will renew some tax credits for wind and solar power that were set to expire at the end of this year, as well as allowing more drilling for offshore oil…..House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi hailed the 236-189 vote as a victory because the bill also included Democratic priorities such as stripping oil companies of $18 billion in tax breaks, renewing expiring tax credits for wind and solar, and requiring electric utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

The measure “will put us on the path toward energy independence” and make “Big Oil pay for its fair share of our transition to a clean, renewable energy future,” Pelosi said.

The measure is far from a done deal as it still needs to make it through the U.S. Senate where there are three other energy bills that are very different than the House bill. Plus, the White House has threatened to veto the measure.

What would our economy look like if we substituted the frenzied incineration of our finite energy base with the limitless and infinite flows of renewable energy?………………………………

This kind of Australia isn’t merely possible, it is coming into being right now by the sheer force of will of thousands of people in every town and city in the country. Some of the ideas are new, and some of them are very old. What keeps me optimistic is the collective vision held out by so many people working everywhere toward a renewable community, because that’s the place I want to live.

This isn’t the end of economic growth, but the beginning of a conversation about what kind of growth we need and what kind we can no longer afford. It’s about how to truly live as human beings on this fragile planet…………………..

One rather profound consequence of a renewable energy system is that once the infrastructure is in place, the fuel costs are largely free. No-one can own the sun, wind, and tides, and perhaps it is this which scares the fossil corporations more than anything.

I think it’s time we admitted that far from being an economic and social disaster, greening our communities is going to transform our society for the better……………………………Electrified light rail systems and electric vehicles hold out the promise of a transport network that runs on sunlight. Imagine if we could invent a zero carbon form of personal transport that had no fuel costs, emitted no toxic chemicals and improved the physical health of the passenger? Such an invention is already in wide use in parts of our community where planning policies favour bikes and pedestrians instead of cars………………………..An energy-efficient Australia can be renewably powered within a generation. With determination and a bit of foresight, we can now step past the desperate handful of fossil advocates who are scaremongering about the end of the economy as they know it and demanding that Australia not get too far in front of the rest of the world. The most damaging myth of all is the one which says this can’t be done.