Who's missing the good old days of individually wrapped, single-use plastic drinking straws being handed out at restaurants now? Would you really put your lips on a restaurant cup handed through the drive-in window right now? But... straws are destroying the planet! We must outlaw straws! Seems like we've replaced the climate crisis with the COVID crisis. A real-time threat instead of a dire prediction. And maybe all the climate change hysteria has been shoved to the back of the rack right now in favor of dealing with the actual threat we're all living with.
Except all the "clean energy now" folks are still trying to push their agenda while holed up in their urban paradise. Everyone has probably heard something related to an effort to include financial incentives for wind and solar in federal economic relief packages. That's kind of like worrying about your single-use plastic straw destroying the planet when a pandemic is killing thousands.
Depending on your political persuasion, you may think the attempt to shove environmental wish lists into federal relief packages isn't happening. But it is.
Here's a "wish list" for the American Wind Energy Association. AWEA sent a letter to Congress urging them to provide "relief" to the renewable energy sector. As if they're not part of the corporate world already included in relief packages? For some reason they need special, additional relief.
While this whole economic crisis was winding up, so was my anxiety over how we'd ever pay for it all. Maybe we need to cut some pork. The billions of taxpayer dollars handed out each year to big wind and big solar in the form of renewable energy tax credits seems like a good place to start. After all, this industry has claimed that it is competitive in energy markets without any subsidy. Isn't it about time to make them put OUR money where their mouth is?
Perhaps the most disturbing "want" by AWEA is "the ability to receive direct payments for or refundability of our tax credits would keep our current pipeline of projects moving forward." In other words, big wind doesn't even want tax credits anymore because their ability to monitize them by selling them to other corporations has been hit hard by the economy. Instead, big wind and solar corporations simply want the cash. Instead of a credit on the taxes they may pay, they want the government to just hand them cash because they're unlikely to pay enough taxes to cover the credits they're earning.
How come I'm not allowed to sell my own tax credits to other taxpayers? Oh, that we all could receive a payment from the government instead of credits to our tax burden! Forget all those write-offs I'm allowed on my tax return, just give me cash instead! Except I never get more write-offs than I can use. Big wind does. Maybe we shouldn't lose sight of that fact. It's not a mere tax credit, it's a source of income.
So, maybe big wind's wish list didn't make it into the most recent economic relief package. There will be more relief to come, and that's where they're focusing right now. As more relief comes, it's going to start to look more like corporate Christmas and less like actual relief for the American people who need it.
Keep your eyes on this one. Greed knows no bounds.
Meanwhile, use a straw, folks. Go ahead, live large! I must admit I've been stockpiling them and carrying them around for more than a year. Have you ever seen how they "wash" bar glasses? Even before COVID-19 I wasn't a fan of sharing germs on poorly washed, reusable restaurant ware. And now I've got nowhere to use my stockpile of straws because I'm certainly not eating any food prepared by someone else. No straws needed!
Yes, this too shall pass, and eventually I can enjoy a meal out again. I have straws at the ready. But will I ever look at the "climate crisis" as a real, imminent threat again? Probably not. The dangers of climate change have paled in comparison to the present threat. And that presents a problem to the renewable energy industry, whose power to scare or shame people into submission has paled as well.
Perceptions have changed. The money buffet may just be closed forever.
Except all the "clean energy now" folks are still trying to push their agenda while holed up in their urban paradise. Everyone has probably heard something related to an effort to include financial incentives for wind and solar in federal economic relief packages. That's kind of like worrying about your single-use plastic straw destroying the planet when a pandemic is killing thousands.
Depending on your political persuasion, you may think the attempt to shove environmental wish lists into federal relief packages isn't happening. But it is.
Here's a "wish list" for the American Wind Energy Association. AWEA sent a letter to Congress urging them to provide "relief" to the renewable energy sector. As if they're not part of the corporate world already included in relief packages? For some reason they need special, additional relief.
While this whole economic crisis was winding up, so was my anxiety over how we'd ever pay for it all. Maybe we need to cut some pork. The billions of taxpayer dollars handed out each year to big wind and big solar in the form of renewable energy tax credits seems like a good place to start. After all, this industry has claimed that it is competitive in energy markets without any subsidy. Isn't it about time to make them put OUR money where their mouth is?
Perhaps the most disturbing "want" by AWEA is "the ability to receive direct payments for or refundability of our tax credits would keep our current pipeline of projects moving forward." In other words, big wind doesn't even want tax credits anymore because their ability to monitize them by selling them to other corporations has been hit hard by the economy. Instead, big wind and solar corporations simply want the cash. Instead of a credit on the taxes they may pay, they want the government to just hand them cash because they're unlikely to pay enough taxes to cover the credits they're earning.
How come I'm not allowed to sell my own tax credits to other taxpayers? Oh, that we all could receive a payment from the government instead of credits to our tax burden! Forget all those write-offs I'm allowed on my tax return, just give me cash instead! Except I never get more write-offs than I can use. Big wind does. Maybe we shouldn't lose sight of that fact. It's not a mere tax credit, it's a source of income.
So, maybe big wind's wish list didn't make it into the most recent economic relief package. There will be more relief to come, and that's where they're focusing right now. As more relief comes, it's going to start to look more like corporate Christmas and less like actual relief for the American people who need it.
Keep your eyes on this one. Greed knows no bounds.
Meanwhile, use a straw, folks. Go ahead, live large! I must admit I've been stockpiling them and carrying them around for more than a year. Have you ever seen how they "wash" bar glasses? Even before COVID-19 I wasn't a fan of sharing germs on poorly washed, reusable restaurant ware. And now I've got nowhere to use my stockpile of straws because I'm certainly not eating any food prepared by someone else. No straws needed!
Yes, this too shall pass, and eventually I can enjoy a meal out again. I have straws at the ready. But will I ever look at the "climate crisis" as a real, imminent threat again? Probably not. The dangers of climate change have paled in comparison to the present threat. And that presents a problem to the renewable energy industry, whose power to scare or shame people into submission has paled as well.
Perceptions have changed. The money buffet may just be closed forever.
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