Proposals Designed to Change the Conversation on Clean Energy in 2011
Washington, D.C., November 16, 2010 – The Center for American Progress (CAP) today released a paper “Cutting the Cost of Clean Energy”, a policy roadmap for a national energy reform plan designed to reduce the cost of clean energy deployment, and create jobs and enhance American economic competitiveness in 2011. The Center for American Progress Action Fund, CAP’s sister organization, will hold a related conference today entitled “The Future of Energy Reform” in Washington, D.C. cosponsored with Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).
Co-written with the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), this effort recognizes the historic opportunity faced by the 112th Congress to make great strides in economic development and jobs creation through investment in clean energy deployment. To harness the power of both public policy innovation and private sector investment, the effort titled “Project 2011” tees up a framework policy debate in the coming year. The proposal focuses on: (1) policy incentives to reduce the cost of capital for clean energy projects; (2) regulatory reform to increase demand for clean energy and create greater financial predictability; and, (3) new competitive regional infrastructure to ensure sustained economic development.
“This is a critical moment in American energy policy, and there is a clear path forward today for business and government to work together rebuilding our economy on the foundation of clean and efficient energy,” said Bracken Hendricks, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-author of the report. “But to realize this opportunity investors need greater financial certainty to reduce the cost of building clean energy projects. This project can unite Americans across party lines and regional boundaries, to create jobs, drive innovation and competitiveness, and make our economy stronger.”
CGC is a non-profit dedicated to tax and finance policies that help convert the U.S. and global economies from carbon emissions-intensive practices to methods that are clean, efficient, renewable, and affordable. CGC President CEO Reed Hundt, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, likened the proposals to an industry creating “Telecom Act for Energy.” Mr. Hundt headed the FCC when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed, which removed regulatory roadblocks to usher in a revolution in information and communications technologies.
“Just as the Telecom Act forged a consensus across party lines to modernize outmoded communications regulations, a similar ‘smart policy’ makeover is needed today for energy,” said Mr. Hundt. “In order to grow, the clean energy industry requires regulatory reform, including policies that will make clean energy cheaper.”
Specifically, Project 2011 proposes clean energy innovation policies that would:
- Create a non-profit lending institution, the Energy Independence Trust, that could borrow money from the U.S. Treasury, as well as the private sector, to address the access to capital challenges that face U.S. clean energy firms and hamper their international competitiveness.
- Propose tax policies and streamlined incentives to help bolster market demand.
- Reform market regulations to remove barriers to entry in the clean energy sector, to create more certainty and predictability for clean energy investment.
Project 2011 was unveiled today at a conference entitled “The Future of Energy Reform” in Washington, D.C. cosponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).”
To read the full report, click here.
About CAP
The Center for American Progress is dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action. Building on the achievements of progressive pioneers such as Teddy Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, our work addresses 21st-century challenges such as energy, national security, economic growth and opportunity, immigration, education, and health care. We develop new policy ideas, critique the policy that stems from conservative values, and challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter and shape the national debate. Founded in 2003 to provide long-term leadership and support to the progressive movement, CAP is headed by John D. Podesta and based in Washington, D.C. CAP opened a Los Angeles office in 2007.
About CGC
The CGC is a non-profit based in Washington D.C. dedicated to developing and advocating tax and finance policies that help convert the U.S. and global economies from carbon emissions-intensive practices to methods that are clean, renewable, and affordable. For more information on the Coalition, please visit www.coalitionforgreencapital.com.
About ACORE:
ACORE, a 501(c)(3) membership non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, is dedicated to bringing renewable energy into the mainstream of the US economy and lifestyle through research and communications programs and membership committees. ACORE’S membership works in all sectors of the renewable energy industries including wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy, biomass, biofuels, and waste energy. ACORE provides a common platform for the wide range of interests in the renewable energy community including end users, technology companies, manufacturers, utilities, professional service firms, financial institutions, colleges and universities, associations, non-profit organizations and government agencies. ACORE serves as a thought leadership forum through which these parties work together on common interests. ACORE co-organizes the REFF-Wall Street and REFF-West Finance Conferences, the RETECH All-Renewables Energy Conference and Exhibition, the Phase II National Policy Forum in Washington, DC, and hosts both domestic and global policy events furthering the mission of renewable energy. Additional information is available at http://www.acore.org.
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