Staying Positive During Turbulent Political Times for Renewables

New Hampshire, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] After successive record years for wind and solar in the U.S., no one thought the industry would be facing another potential expiration of key federal tax incentives. But now the industry is scrambling to get the tax credits through Congress before project development starts drying up. The uncertain situation raises the question: Is the industry tipping forward or stepping backward?

Despite the debacle in Washington, most analysts are talking positively about the U.S. market. While the political process has been very slow, industry representatives are confident that the tax credits will be passed by mid-summer. Even if something goes wrong, they say, there are still plenty of opportunities to turn things around. We’ll have a feature story on how people are feeling about the future of renewables in the U.S.

NOTE: H.R. 6049, The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, was passed by the House soon after this podcast was published.

Also in the podcast: Wilson Rickerson, co-author of a new white paper on the U.S. renewable heating and cooling (REHC) market, talks about why REHC is so often left out of the policy debate.

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