Hi Laura, thanks for your note and my apologies for the delayed response—often listserve emails get hung up in my spam filter, sorry!
Just to clarify, CAP’s column discusses the need for refundability as a tax design consideration, and substantiates the argument on the basis of wind and solar; it does not argue for garbage incineration
or woody biomass. I’m happy to introduce you to some of our energy team offline if you want to connect with the author and others!
I hear your concern, and thanks for raising it.
Best,
Sally
From: Laura Haight <lhaight@pfpi.net>
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 2:42 PM
To: Sally Hardin <shardin@americanprogress.org>, "cdp@groups.b-team.org" <cdp@groups.b-team.org>
Cc: "'Mary S. Booth'" <mbooth@pfpi.net>, "aiko@100percentnetwork.org" <aiko@100percentnetwork.org>
Subject: resending my email on Renewable Energy Tax Credits
Perhaps my email this morning got lost in people’s inboxes, but I am raising a serious point that I hope you will consider, so I am taking the liberty of resending it. My email was in response to the Center
for American Progress’s post on the renewable energy production tax credits, but by “you all” I meant all the green groups on the CDP listserv.
As many of us are working on extending and expanding the PTC, I do hope we can start having this conversation, and if this is not the place to do that, I am open to suggestions about what the appropriate forum
should be. Feel free to reach out to me off-line if you prefer.
I don’t mean to pick a fight with you all (and I know that some of you agree with me) but it’s time that the environmental movement stops blindly advocating for extension of all of the renewable energy tax
credits.
We all know that some of those tax credits are for exceedingly polluting technologies such as garbage incineration and woody biomass energy. But time and again, in our demands, we call for extension of renewable
energy tax credits for “wind, solar, and other renewables.” Let’s start clarifying what those “other renewables” should be, and what they shouldn’t be.
I would like to point out that some of us in the climate justice movement are trying to do exactly that. This includes recent collaborative efforts like the 100% Network’s
Comprehensive Building Blocks for a Just Regenerative 100% Policy
and the recently-launched Vision for Equitable Climate Action that was produced by members
of the US Climate Action Network.
If the harm to our forests, our climate, our air quality, and the health of the communities where these polluting facilities are sited is not enough to spur a rejection of renewable energy subsidies for these
technologies – and they ought to be – please take a look at PFPI’s report, the
Bioenergy Boom: from the Federal Stimulus: Outcomes and Lessons, on the fate
of the major biomass power plants that were subsidized through the last federal stimulus, which allowed the conversion of refundable production tax credits to cash grants. Turns out they’re not a very good investment, either.
We don’t have enough time to mess around with false solutions. We all need to do a better job defining what we want. If we continue to just say “we want renewable energy” we are going to continue to allow
others to define it for us.
I would welcome a dialog on this.
From:
cdp@groups.b-team.org <cdp@groups.b-team.org>
On Behalf Of Sally Hardin
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 9:34 AM
To: cdp@groups.b-team.org
Subject: [cdp] SOCIAL: Renewable Energy Tax Credits--the case for refundability
Good morning all, I wanted to share
a timely post from CAP this morning addressing
tax credits for renewable energy, and why Congress should both extend them and make them refundable so that more hard-hit clean energy companies can take advantage of them during (and after) the COVID-driven economic downturn.
The piece is a litttttle in the tax policy weeds but makes the important overall points that a) the clean energy sector has been hard hit by the covid economic crisis; b) that same sector is absolutely critical
to climate action; c) the Trump administration has done close to nothing to invest in this industry while giving handouts to fossil fuel companies but d) the industry holds a lot of promise for jobs and economic revival if Congress were to invest in it—and
the post explains how that can be done.
If you’re able/it aligns with your organization’s interests, we’d love if you would amplify on social; some suggested guidance is below! Thanks in advance.
PS--This piece is timely because the IRS
just announced that they are extending the safe harbor provision, allowing companies an additional year
to qualify for the production and investment tax credits, which provides temporary relief—but this post suggests how that could be made more overarching and permanent.
Suggested tweets:
-
The clean energy industry has lost 600,000 jobs during
#COVID19. The Trump administration hasn’t taken action – so now it’s up to Congress to do so, by extending the clean energy
tax credits and making them refundable. More via @amprog: https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=485411
#ActOnClimate
-
Right behind the
#COVID19 crisis looms the climate crisis – but the clean energy sector that will lead us to a 100% clean future just lost 600k
jobs. Congress can aid in its recovery by extending clean energy tax credits & making them refundable:
https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=485411 #100x50
-
As the govt works on further stimulus & recovery efforts in response to the
#COVID19 crisis, Congress must pass an extension of job-creating clean energy tax credits and enable renewable energy project owners
to receive their full value immediately. More: https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=485411
-
Congress should put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work by extending the renewable energy tax credits and making them refundable for hard-hit companies that can’t otherwise take advantage
of them during the #COVID19 economic downturn. More:
https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=485411
-
As Congress is working on further stimulus and recovery efforts in response to the
#COVID19 crisis, extending the renewable energy tax credits and making them refundable is a must in order to save and create jobs – and
to fight climate change. More: https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=485411
- The Trump admin has given handouts to the fossil fuel industry during the
#COVID19 crisis. But it's the renewable energy industry that's lost 600,000 jobs. By extending the clean energy tax credits
& making them refundable, Congress can help: https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=485411
#ActOnClimate
--
Sally Hardin
Interim Director, Energy and Environment War Room
Center for American Progress
240-688-6207
she/hers
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