Conservative Folly: How the Right's War on Renewable Energy Could Doom Red States

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/conservative-folly-how-rights-war-renewable-energy-could-doom-red-states



Despite impressive green economic growth during this country's job-challenged recovery, particularly in the wind energy sector, the conservative right is systematically seeking to reverse this trend by repealing state-mandated renewable energy targets, even if many of the states that stand to lose jobs and economic opportunity lean red.

Right-wing groups funded by the fossil-fuel industry and the billionaire Koch brothers are rolling out a nationwide assault to repeal state Renewable Electricity Standards (RES), a key component, along with such federal tax incentives as the wind production tax credit (PTC), in driving renewable energy growth in the United States.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia currently have a state-mandated RES (also known as a Renewable Portfolio Standard). Traditionally, the renewable electricity standard has received bipartisan support. Efforts in recent years to repeal or weaken state renewable standards have largely failed.

But a November 2012 Washington Post investigation revealed that the fossil-fuel and Koch-funded American Legislative Council (ALEC) and the climate-denying Heartland Institute are making this a nationwide priority in 2013.

[TheBlackAdder]

1. NJ Appointed a former energy exec to the BPU... Geothermal was one of the first things cut.

Yes.

Chris Christie appointed a BPU exec who used had close ties to big energy.

NJ used to be one of the pinnacle states to promote Geothermal technology.


After the BPU appointment, virtually all references to geothermal's superior heating
and cooling benefits, the online guides, the rebates, the references to geothermal
providers were pulled from the state's site.


Prior to this, I had my house modeled though the state for geothermal. The savings
for heating and cooling my house was projected to drop from $2,800 a year to just
$550 a year. If I added 2 8' BP solar panels and a battery system, which would have
cost me an additional $1,600 after rebates, I would have had NO cost to heat and
cool my house... with ZERO carbon footprint. But, before I moved on the project,
the state removed almost all support for it.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. They're already screwing them with Postal Distribution Center closures.

In the South and Midwest, the Post Office was forced to close many of their distribution centers which allowed people to receive one-two day first class mail. Now, in those sections of the country, first class mail is a three day offering. This was done to cripple the USPS's competitiveness with the ALEC associated UPS and FedEx. After all, why would you pay $5 or more dollars to ship a next day letter when the USPS was doing it for $0.45?

This is a shame because the states that were impacted have pretty low average incomes, which impact anyone there who need to mail something. The funny thing was, most of the distribution centers that were closed and many others that are slated for closure have either a newly installed UPS or FedEx center right nearby.