Howard Dean Presents Renewable Energy Plan

By Aziz P. -
Dean has presented his plan for renewable energy:

Governor Dean proposes creating a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), requiring more American biofuels, boosting wind energy transmission, creating a solar power tax credit, extending the production tax credit (PTC), and investing in renewable energy and efficiency as part of the Fund to Restore America. The Dean campaign said their plan would create 15,000 new energy related jobs in Iowa and US$126 billion in new local property tax revenue by 2020.


There are six specific points (from official press release):

* Create a Renewable Portfolio Standard 20% by 2020. Despite a bipartisan plea from 53 Senators, the GOP leadership in Congress, buckled under to oil and gas interests and rejected calls to require that our nation generate 10% of its electricity from renewable sources. Governor Dean will put the interests of Americans ahead of special interests and require that our nation generate 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. To ensure efficient and flexible implementation, Dean will create a renewable energy credit trading system.

* Require More American Biofuels. Governor Dean will require that every gallon of the US, on average, contain 10% American biofuels like ethanol and soy-diesel. As with the renewable energy requirement, Dean will implement a biofuels credit trading system to allow the market to determine where biofuels can be most efficiently used.

* Boost Wind Energy Transmission. To tap this massive wind energy potential of the Plains, Governor Dean will work with state and local governments, renewable generators and transmission utilities to breakdown regulatory barriers, eliminate transmission capacity deficiencies and identify possible transmission investments that could jumpstart new renewable generation

* Create a Solar Power Tax Credit. Governor Dean will boost demand for solar technology in the near-and long-terms by implementing a consumer tax credit for residential solar power and increasing federal support for R&D into solar technologies to reduce the cost of solar cells.

* Extend the Production Tax Credit for More Renewables. Governor Dean will extend the Production Tax Credit, which expires at the end of the year. Dean will also expand the tax credit to cover more types of renewable power generation including geothermal, solar and biomass.

* Invest in Renewable Energy and Efficiency as Part of the Fund to Restore America. Governor Dean's economic plan calls for a $100 billion investment in America over two years: the Fund to Restore America. Dean will encourage states to dedicate a portion of the Fund to investments in renewable generation and in supplemental transmission capability needed to spark new renewable generation.


I'm VERY skeptical of ethanol and biomass, and there are scalability issues with wind that I won't go into here either. On the whole I am disappointed that there is no mention of funding for fusion and support for nuclear fission. This press release is IMHO weak, by relying too much on energy buzzword concepts (some of which are too tied into federal subsidies such as ethanol).

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