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Even US conservatives supporting fair tax deal for renewable energy

Level Playing Field for Renewable Energy Design Build, By Marc Howe, 27 April 13 Conservative politicians in Washington have expressed strong support for legislation which will put renewable energy companies on a level playing field with fossil fuel providers.

The new legislation proposed by Senators Christopher Coons, D-Del., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, will expand the use of “master-limited partnerships” (MLPs), which confer major tax advantages to companies from oil, natural gas and coal mining projects to renewable energy projects as well.

MLPs are taxed only once via shareholders, as compared to listed limited liability corporations, which are taxed at both the shareholder and corporate levels.

Conservatives have come out in support of the bill, despite a recent stoush with President Barack Obama over his support for California solar power company Solyndra, which gave the impression that the GOP harboured strong reservations about renewable energy. Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group founded by the arch-conservative Koch brothers is a prime example. The group castigated Obama over Solyndrda and has expressed unwavering opposition to climate change legislation, yet is all for the extension of MLPs to renewable energy firms.

“There should be a level playing field and people should have access to similar tax and business structures,” says James Valvo, director of policy for Americans for Prosperity.

“I support including all energy sources, including renewables, in the definition of entities eligible for the [MLP] tax treatment,” Pompeo said. http://designbuildsource.com.au/level-playing-field-for-renewable-energy

April 28, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA