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Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for renewable energy to get fair treatment from federal government

An unfair fight for renewable energies Washington Post, By Arnold Schwarzenegger,  December 4 More energy from the sun hits Earth in one hour than all the energy consumed on our planet in an entire year.
In those terms, it is absurd that our federal renewable energy to get government spends tens of billions of dollars annually subsidizing the oil industry, which pulls diminishing resources from underground, while the industry focused above ground on wind, solar and other renewable energies is
derided in Washington. Federal support for development of new energy sources is lower today than at any other point in U.S. history, and our government is forcing the ­clean-energy sector into a competitive disadvantage. To bring true competition to the energy market, ensure
our national security and create jobs here rather than in China or elsewhere, we must level the playing field for renewable energies. In this presidential primary, Americans need to hear where the candidates stand on this critical issue.

Don’t get me wrong — we should not demonize fossil fuels. For more
than 200 years, the United States has rightly invested in developing
new sources of energy. From the land grants for timber and coal in the
1800s to the tax expenditures for oil and gas in the early 20th
century to the investment in developing nuclear energy, support for
energy innovation has always helped drive America’s growth.

Renewable energies, however, have not been treated the same way. When
the oil, gas and nuclear industries were forming, federal support for
those energies totaled as much as 1 percent of federal spending.
Subsidies available to the renewables industry today are just
one-tenth of 1 percent.
If our goal is to encourage competition in the energy marketplace,
then the conversation in Congress shouldn’t be about attacking green
energy or cutting all oil subsidies. The conversation should be about
leveling the playing field so that renewables are bound by the same
rules as fossil fuels. We must make it a national priority to clear
the red tape and bureaucracy that puts renewables at a disadvantage.
If the candidates running for president believe in energy independence
as a matter of national security — regardless of whether they agree
with the science behind climate change — then the issue of investing
in renewable energies must be front and center in the campaign.

Instead of a simplistic and misleading one-word argument against green
energy — Solyndra! — I’d like to hear from the candidates that
government shouldn’t pick winners, as it clearly has with our lopsided
subsidies. Instead of talking about one terrible green investment or,
for that matter, any of the investments in fossil fuels that have cost
billions, I’d like to hear them talk about how to make sure we
properly vet all our investments to get a good return for the American
people.

Federal investment is critical to the success of the renewable energy
industry. That’s not a new idea. The same was true for coal, which
would not have been economically feasible without tax exemptions and
incentives. It was also true for offshore oil drilling, which was
deemed unprofitable without royalty waivers and favorable packaging of
federal leases…..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-unfair-fight-for-renewable-energies/2011/12/02/gIQA9lWrTO_story.html

December 5, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA