Bush Administration Pushes Energy Campaign
February 24, 2006
Renewable energy message positive although controversial.
by Jesse Broehl, RenewableEnergyAccess.com
Merrimack, New Hampshire [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
White House officials wrapped up their efforts this week to promote the President's Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), a funding and research package the Administration says will help reduce the nation's reliance on foreign sources of energy.
"GT Solar is but one example of the important work begun in the Energy Policy Act and a strong illustration of the benefit for New Hampshire's economy when we match local strengths with a sound national policy of developing cleaner, native and renewable energy sources."
-- U.S. Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH)
Administration officials, including the President himself, fanned out across the country in all directions promoting the Bush Administration's energy plans, most of which will need to be approved by Congress.
The Administration's new focus on renewable energy technologies is widely seen as a move in the right direction but concerns remain over whether policy and funding will match the President's goals. And a tinge of controversy on a non-energy topic managed to distract from the Administration's energy message.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Cool to Tax Cut Extensions
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Energy (DOE) Samuel Bodman visited New Hampshire's GT Solar Technologies, a turnkey equipment provider for solar photovoltaic (PV) wafer, cell and module manufacturing systems.
Bodman stressed, "I want to make clear how committed the Bush Administration and our Department are to developing solar technologies that provide the country with an economically competitive energy option."
However, when asked if he would support an extension of the Federal Energy Policy Act tax credits for renewable energy now in place for 2006 and 2007 for an additional six or more years to give the markets time to develop further and stabilize, Bodman declined to offer his outright support.
"I have not been a proponent of tax incentives," Bodman said. "We have two years to examine this, and we will try to understand it (credits) better, and then make that analysis. It's the President's decision," he added, but with advisory help from the DOE and others.
Bodman emphasized that he is focused on the short term and will work to create an impact now, not in the longer term of 25 or 50 years. "What we need to do is spend a half a billion dollars on the science and advanced energy research."
In setting up an "and" situation for the administration's nuclear power and renewable energy push, Bodman said that in addition to AEI spending on "safe, emissions-free nuclear power," the 2007 budget seeks $148 million for solar (including solar electric PV and concentrating solar power), $149 million for biomass and biofuels, and $289 million for hydrogen fuel cells. The 2006 budget for solar is $83 million.
Accompanying Secretary Bodman was U.S. Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH). Speaking to the mostly 100+ GT employee audience, and pointedly to Bodman, Rep. Bass said that last week he "...testified before the House Budget Committee and challenged them to not only meet the President's funding levels, but rather to beat those levels and aim to regain America's preeminence in renewable energy technology and solar adoption."
Bass has worked closely with GT Solar, which was recently named the U.S. 2005 "Small Business Environmental Exporter" by the U.S. Import Export Bank. Speaking to GT Solar's rapid international growth, Bass said, "GT Solar is but one example of the important work begun in the Energy Policy Act and a strong illustration of the benefit for New Hampshire's economy when we match local strengths with a sound national policy of developing cleaner, native and renewable energy sources."
Bodman then went on to visit General Motor's fuel cell activities in western New York to promote the President's Bush's $1.2 billion, five-year commitment to the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. As part of President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative, the FY 2007 budget request for the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative is being increased by $53 million over FY 2006 to $289.5 million.
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