Doubling Down -- October 7, 2015

"Doubling down" seems to be the phrase of the day -- for this election cycle. For this story, it fits. Bakken Magazine is reporting:

The Obama administration today signaled it won’t support bipartisan legislation making its way through Congress that would lift the U.S. ban on crude exports. 

At a White House briefing, administration spokesperson Josh Earnest said Obama opposed the legislation and instead suggested that Congress end tax breaks to the oil industry and invest the money in wind and solar projects.

The real question is whether Hillary Clinton, most likely the next president, will support lifting the ban. 

I believe the oil and gas industry has the same tax breaks that all corporations get. Meanwhile, many solar / wind projects won't get started without special tax breaks. Midwest Energy News is reporting that many intermittent projects in Iowa are not being pursued because tax credits have not yet been granted, and for some reason, even those who qualified for the credits have not moved forward. (Gee, I wonder why?)

Production tax credits for privately developed renewable energy projects have been snapped up in Iowa – but that hasn't always translated into actual renewable energy production.

The reason: many of the tax incentives have been claimed by developers who, even years after they were granted the credits, haven't built wind farms or solar arrays. And with the entire pool of credits now allocated, developers who might actually bring some renewable energy to market are left to wait until credits become available.

“That doesn't meet the overall goal of getting more renewable energy projects built,” said Nathaniel Baer, energy program director for the Iowa Environmental Council. “The goal of this policy is to get more renewable energy built."

As of August 19, according to the Iowa Utilities Board, 113 proposed wind projects had qualified for the credits but were not operating. Of those, 37 were approved for the incentive in 2009 but had been granted a series of 12-month extensions of the deadline for becoming operational.

At the same time, 19 proposed wind projects were on the waiting list for the production tax credit.