Dems Propose Back Door Energy Taxes
by Capitol ConfidentialWhile Harry Reid may have allowed the energy tax hikes to die on the floor of the Senate, liberals nationwide have continued their attacks on the energy industry. The Gulf oil spill is barely a fond memory of a moratorium and Democrats are already seizing on the incident to push a host of job-killing, industry-kneecapping taxes and regulations designed to do what they failed to do legislatively: take down the American energy industry.
First the regulations: starting in January, the EPA will begin enforcing a little known provision called the “Tailoring Rule” – a new series of regulations that allow the EPA to dole out permits to carbon-generating companies “allowing” them to pollute in certain amounts, strictly regulated by environmental watchdogs. These regulations don’t just touch the usual suspects, but also renewable energy sources that don’t immediately fall into the “green” category as defined by environmental groups – sources like Maine’s biomass industry, which creates usable energy from environmental waste. Under the EPA regulations, the biomass industry, which was viewed – and treated – up until now, as carbon neutral, would face a host of regulations directed at greenhouse gas producers – regulations that would greatly raise the cost of doing business and could have dire economic consequences for Maine and beyond.
And then there’s the taxes.
A recent op-ed penned by solar industry executive Tom Rooney sheds a little light on liberal plans for the energy industry:
Solar costs more than coal and oil and natural gas. But here is the truth: It just seems that way because other people pay many of the costs of fossil fuels…Oil subsidies are…extravagant.
“The web of direct subsidies includes billions in government-sponsored low-cost construction loans and tax breaks like the foreign tax credit,” said energy analyst Blaine Townsend in the San Jose Mercury News.
The International Energy Agency says fossil fuels are subsidized $550 billion a year around the world.
Let’s not forget nuclear: The federal government pays a large part of the insurance for nuclear power plants. If government subsidized insurance for solar companies, our costs would drop dramatically.
I’m not saying they should — I was just noting how subsidies create an advantage for one kind of energy.
According to Mr. Rooney, the oil, gas and coal industries are working hard to prevent the success of cleaner energy initatives, like solar power, eating up taxpayer subsidies – subsidies that don’t go to more environmentally friendly industries. If only the taxpayers would stop financing these industies – or better yet, also subsidize solar power – we’d have a cleaner, better world.
Here’s the catch, though. Unlike the solar industry, the oil and gas industry contributes about $165 billion into US revenue per year and employs about 9 million people. And not just that – to say that the renewable energy industry has received no help from the government is a misnomer: the massive stimulus program known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided “green” industries with nearly $20 billion in tax credits on top of over $45 billion directed to that industry through appropriations.
But that aside, the real root of Mr. Rooney’s complaint is more sinister and goes to the heart of a plan the Obama Administration has had since 2009. Mr. Rooney’s “subsidies” are actually the fruit of a provision called “Section 199” – a group of tax credits that are designed to encourage anyone in the manufacturing sector to employ American workers. It’s made available to all American manufacturing firms – including small businesses and entrepreneurships, and anyone who engages in construction, engineering or architecture in the United States, who sells American-made products or who develops software in the US – and repealing it would actually cost Americans around 600,000 jobs nationwide according to the Institute for Energy Research.
According to ATR, a plan to repeal Section 199 has been in the works for a while as a sort of roundabout tax increase designed to punish oil and gas producers and the recent Gulf disaster has given them a perfect excuse to resurrect the initiative. The propects of course, are terrifying: using tactical repeals of tax provisions to punish American companies whose well-being is connected to economic stability.
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70 Comments
I saw on the news, that a woman spent thousands putting solar panels on her house, because Obama promised tax breaks for anyone 'going green' ….yep, you guessed it! He decided to delete that little bill…now she has to PAY thousands in taxes for doing what the president suggested!!!
What a shock. If you can't push new, punitive taxes through Congress, sell "helpful" tax cuts that actually do good in the economy.
This administration couldn't possibly be any more transparent about their desire to destroy this country.
New taxes. From democrats. Well, I'm sure they will spend our money wisely.
/sarc off
FYI to all citizens of the USA… All Gov subsidies are being stopped NOW! Your prices will go up on certain items that the gov has previously kept unrealistically low. BUT, your Fed taxes will be reduced by 10%… so you'll get to keep more of the money you worked so hard for.
This would apply to farming, transportation, energy, etc… No more favoritism or blackmail via subsidization.
…just a dream….
Dems and greenie weenies full of lies. The dirtbag dems say Big oil is subsidized. I have read the Exxon Mobil annual report and it just isn't in there. Under Sarbanes Oxley, they have to report revenue. When I ask a leftist idiot where they get the numbers, they just get angry.
First they shove it down our throats, now they'll stick up our Back Door. See you in November and it will be our turn!
Dems have their opinions and they are backed up by their own facts. Simple logic
This is not going to stop until they have their cap and trade in place to enrich the few and impoverish the many. It's a scam, but who cares as long as certain folks make mega bucks. It's just more of the global warming crap and the progs love the idea of fleecing the unwary. It's big government at work to separate you from what few bucks you may have left. It's also a ploy for redistribution of wealth for those who haven't been able to stay up on the issue. The EPA is writing the regs without congressional approval. I see a lawsuit coming.
Our energy bills, coal, and petroleum products are going through the roof. When that happens, everything else will jump in price.
You smell a lawsuit OldmanRick? Smells like revolution to me!
Word on the street is the Democrats like getting it done in the Backdoor….. Male Democrats anyway.
The Republicans better shut down the EPA as soon as they can!!…No funding! the EPA will be actively working to make sure the economy tanks even further under a Republican House majority to help obowma win again in 2012….and that is just a fact of what happens in Washington DC
That Governor Palin. She called them limp and impotent. Sissies.
hopefully she is not in a hail prone area….I wouldn't put any up here in OK…lol
It's going to take twenty years to undue the damage that these marxists have done in the last 2 years.
.
Destroy the EPA. Read about malaria and bedbugs now making big come backs based on politically charged fraudulent "science" about the "horror" DDT might potentially do. Now people are dying because of a ban on a substance the libs thought might be bad! Get rid of the liberal eco-terror arm known as the EPA.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/09/if_yo...
'Dem Dems …they will not stop at anything to raise taxes while purporting to lower taxes AND/OR HURT American Businesses while purporting to be helping them. Did you know that in the Crap & Tax ENERGY Bill, it actually ENCOURAGES Businesses to move abroad with great incentives & tax benefits …redistribution of wealth.
Until solar panels can be produced cheaply, it's just not that attractive for most homeowners. Even here in Hawaii where the sun is intense year round, the investment doesn't make a lot of sense. I got a bid on a solar system for my house. The details:
1. $25,000 for a system which would produce approx. 800 Kwh/month.
2. My roof would need to be replaced, since it will need to be done in the next 5 or so years. Once the panels are up, this becomes a much larger project, add another $5-10k
3. The electric utility will absorb all the power I generate into their grid. However, any "extra" power I generated (power produced – power used) would not result in a check from the power company. Those kilowatt hours became essentially "rollover minutes" which were good for a year. At best, I received a monthly bill for $18. A charge for being connected to the grid.
Thus, if you know you aren't going to move in the next 20 years it might make sense, but how many people can say that definitively?
The Dems propose…. LOL Propose all you want, Just a few days left until your proposing days are over for quite a while.
TROLL ALERT!! they have been thumbing down EVERY comment!!
The Troll attacks are laughable!!! Hey Trolls… Do you really think we give a flyin S**t what our thumbs up or down rateings are?… Classic libs… No argument… just attack any way they can.
High five rckmom!
If you could burn dog crap and the crap company doled out millions (billions) to election campaigns then we'd be forced to burn dog crap.
Once again the Dems are ramming something through our back doors. It's like Bawney Fwank politics
Of course they have to steal to spend more
That's an interesting scenario. I'd add that there's no guarantee that the $18/month fee wouldn't be "adjusted" upward, and other "fees" added over that 20 years. Unless you think the power companies would be happy if a large percentage of their customers started using solar panels.
IDEA: Ok… So a troll makes a couple of toons and and goes on a childish Intensedebate ratings attack… Solution: Every negative rating clicked should require a page reload. Zip Zap and your done. I will draft an e-mail, Mayhap we could put together a petition if it suits the posters here? I'm sure there is an electronic answer to said problem, can't be corrected unless we speak up though..
They come from the soros school for illiterate trolls. They can't read or write, but they CAN click those little thumby things.
The EPA has WAY too much power, way too much.
Hmmmm, back door, Dem's ? Bawney Frank must have something to do with it.
The scam continues, its just the way it's being done that changes.
If ever there was a branch of government that needs to be shut down, it’s the EPA. This group of meddling beaurocrats have done more to harm “people” than any other, save perhaps the IRS.
Has anybody figured out why Democrats hate America?
Funny thing is many Russian scientists say that oil is renewable. It isn't a fossil fuel, it is mineral in origin.
Yea… I figure its just one or two idiots paid or otherwise… It could (and probably will) escalate though. As the BIG sites popularity rises so do the haters. I could care less about the rateings ( unless i was in the red of course ) but maybe we need to do something… Or ask for something to be done. Can't let a few Trolls run off good posters.
Didn't Castro just announce, after 50 years, that Communism doesn't work!
STOP THE TAXES OBAMA, and DEMS!
This is one of the last pieces in their total Dictatorship take-over of U.S!
Hawaii Electric does the expected PC dance about being enthusiastic about renewables, but they aren't. It makes load balancing a challenge with changes in cloud cover/weather. There's 20 large wind turbines on the island which generate roughly 10% of the island's needs. But they too are problematic for the utility. The trade winds are very dependable as winds go, but it is just one more variable to account for – on top the load changes due to customer demand throughout the day.
We have the highest electric rates in the country, so from a purely economic standpoint, I'd love to reduce my bill ($150/month – that's without air conditioning, no lights left on in unoccupied rooms, etc). One cheaper option would be small home sized turbines, which run $3,000-$5,000, and could be taken or sold with the house. They are currently not allowed unless you are in an area zoned rural or agricultural.
For the mainland, how many homeowners are going to make the investment in solar when half the year there's a low sun angle, and there will be zero power generated if there's snow on the panels?
Another aspect to solar which is rarely discussed is that the panels wear out. I've heard 20 years is their lifespan. At that point they only generate 50% of their original load. Until the panels cost $100 each people aren't going to do it without huge subsidies.
Let's just hope it's a voting revolution unless I can operate the guillotine.
We can fix that for each other. They can't figure that out?
Congress has been taken out of the equation.
Makes me wonder if my great great grandparents were thinking the same things we are right now about their government. They were my age during the Wilson administration.
Solar is intermittent, so a coal fired plant has to be up and running on standby just in case.
Plus smart grid infrastructure needs to be built to accommodate solar or wind.
Then we have the 30% federal tax break for solar, wind and fuel cells.
As for Biomass, burning trees doesn't seem very green to me either, at least not if they are grown for fuel–seems like burning fossil fuel.
Lets get serious and capture all the waste heat that is released everyday in this country, lowering manufacturing cost and using less fuel–combined heat and power CHP– DOE says "CHP is the economical way to go green"
The regulations may start in January, but with a change in congress, EPA layoffs may be starting in February.
Touche
Oh such power the kids feel – woo hoo!
So how many regulations are we up with barry? Last I saw it was pages upon pages, and people still seem confused what the informed American is upset about?? More government = less freedom – this is NOT hard to figure out!
oh yea, and now the 41st czar is named – all in the name of tackling the asian carp problem that little dicky durbin is ready to fight with all his might, against. This takes a czar?
How many kids and/or grandkids do you have? Find that many new voters to vote in November. Kick the scummy Dems to the unemployment line.
PREACHING TO THE CHOIR
Please be sure to post your comments on Yahoo, CNN, etc. where you will stimulate discussion and might change the dialog.
Posting to conservative sites may make everyone feel good but the chances are you will only reinforce deeply-held convictions when what is needed is to give those whose beliefs are left-of-center pause for thought.
Posting to the ultra-liberal sites is just a food fight and a waste of time.
Let's make use of all the energy that goes into posting well-reasoned comments where we might have some effect on restoring America.
Plus I bet those panels will now trap heat on your roof that otherwise might have been deflected. So your house heats up.
BTW there are ways to make almost free solar panels. A lot of companies merely throw away the materials. But its too cumbersome for the lay man to make.
Anyone notice that environmentalism is actually regressive and not PROgressive. In other words all environmentalism does is hold people back, restrict them… like an anchor. They make nothing, produce nothing, build nothing. Sure they may advocate some green tech stuff but most of the time that tech is infeasible and actually a step backwards.
So how do progressives say they are "progressing" when they actually grab our ankles and pull us backward into the stone ages. We can't build refineries, power plants, nuclear… nothing and anything we do is taxed to deter that behavior.
That's NOT PROGRESS! Progressives even fail to be progressive.
Plus I bet those panels will now trap heat on your roof that otherwise might have been deflected. So your house heats up.
If that's the case the roof wont last as long either.
I have said the damage they have done is generational.
50% (!!!!) of college grads are unemployed when they graduate. So their skills will atrophy meaning no one will hire them. They will still be saddled with student loan debt. So we are going to have an entire generation of young adults in debt, out of work, and with no good future prospects. The only good thing to come out of all of this is the realization of all these morons that "hope and change" are not a platform to govern from, and that the presss is little more than the liberal propaganda machine.
Becacuse their base is all about bitterness. Think about the groups that make them up. Minorities who are told they are victims and entitled to our property because they are minorities. This includes, minority races, gays, illegals, etc. Criminals (95+%) are democrats, again, a violent group mad at society at large. Academia and the press. The people working in these areas generally lack the ability to succeed in the real world on their own so they teach. Their personal failure comes out as bitterness and to blame society at large. It couldn't be that they failed, suck, lack the work ethic. It's because of the "evil" (insert target here). They're a collective group of lazy unproductive douche bags mad at the world for their failures. That's why they can't govern. They are incompetent and can only offer piss and hate. They can destroy with the best of them, but they can't build ANYTHING!
This carbon "tax" bullshit has killed Europe and most of the sane countries are backing away from it. By the way isn't about time America dumps this asshole Federal government Dept. known as the EPA ???
I am not sure how the panels would affect roof temp. I'd love an complete off-grid solution given our long-term economic outlook given the debt and unfunded future entitlement obligations, but I have a small lot making the rest of that lifestyle (food production/water supply) problematic, if not impossible.
The gist of my point was this – if it doesn't make sense to do solar in Hawaii (highest solar insolation rates/highest utility rates) how in the hell are you going to make the numbers work on the mainland? Well, you make the numbers work by having a plan under which "electric rates would necessarily skyrocket".
It's just more progressive monkey wrenching with the economy, with the goal of weakening the US. One must remember with leftists that one of their primary drives is to equalize everyone, and nations as well.
The liberals are killing the economy. If they can't do it in one big kill shot, then they try to do it by death from a thousand cuts. They clearly have no conception or even basic understanding of economics. It might behoove them to get a few people with real world business experience on their team. I won't hold my breath though.
EXCLUSIVE: After a Year of Setbacks, U.N. Looks to Take Charge of World's Agenda Sept 8, 2010
After a year of humiliating setbacks, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and about 60 of his top lieutenants — the top brass of the entire U.N. system — spent their Labor Day weekend at a remote Austrian Alpine retreat, discussing ways to put their sprawling organization in charge of the world’s agenda.
Details concerning the two-day, closed-door sessions in the comfortable village of Alpbach were closely guarded. Nonetheless, position papers for the meeting obtained by Fox News indicate that the topics included:
– how to restore “climate change” as a top global priority after the fiasco of last year’s Copenhagen summit; http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/08/years-set...
duplicate
I put solar on my house because the State paid for half of it. So if I live in this house for 50 years I may recoup the cost of the panels. My kids made me do it, I tried to explain to them it would do nothing for the environment. I was traveling and working hard at the time and blame that for my stupid decision.
The only good thing about this new green plan is that it will raise the cost and put more people out of work. So in one dumb move Obama is able to hurt everyone. Oh what a feeling.
Libs have never met a tax they didn't like.
I'm seeing them here in Pa. but Im sure it's a rebate thing. It is interesting to see your numbers though.
Something that I knew instinctively as a contractor.
Or take responsibility for the millions they killed with their DDT ban … over 35 million have needlessly die of malaria since banning DDT, mostly black African children under the age of 5. No problem has ever been found to be caused by DDT, none NADA. Even WHO after 35 years searching had to allow it's use again, but only inside.
It is shameful the devastation these bureaucrats cause. We should as you say, dump the whole cesspool agency out in the sun.
WE THE PEOPLE reject your communist Take Over…Divine Wind…Perfect Storm will PURGE WASHINGTON DC of Filth and free our country, govt, media and academia from these traitors…Take Over Compliance and its Enablers are the targets for Removal and Arrest.
@ Kungfoochimp: You are right with your claims regarding the panels and everyone should be aware of a few things.
1. The government is being lobbied by solar companies that want to "lease" you photovoltaic systems for your home. These systems are placed upon your roof presumably at no cost to the homeowner. However, your roof must be structurally capable of supporting the weight, if not you must retrofit it to make it strong enough. Your roofing system must have greater than 10 years of lifecycle left, if not you must re-roof your home. The systems they will lease you are grid tied systems. This is a sticking point to most because, most Americans are at work or not home during the day and their energy usage is minimal. When they are home after dark, they are reliant 100% on the utility when they use energy. This does not cut your cost of energy.
2. Many utility companies have a maximum of .5% requirement that allows residential and commercial grid tied systems to connect to their grid. PG&E was recently forced by the state to increase that to 2.5%. However, again Kungfoochimp is correct in that they will not pay you for generating more than you use and the system that will be leased will ensure that you will always have a utility bill to pay PLUS a lease to the solar company. Your utility bill will reduce from 40% to 60% of your current bill, but that would disappear with the addition of the lease fees. The only one who makes anything is the solar company leasing you the panels that come with a 10 – 30 year contract. And of course the government in the form of taxes on the lease and the utility because they get to generate less at the same rates charged.
It is a lose lose for any homeowner unless you install your own off grid system with an inverter and battery bank. However, that comes at great initial cost and annual recurring costs due to the maintenance of the system, and the batteries which will fall under EPA regulations and local and state electrical code requirements.
A shitty deal no matter how you look at it…
Might work, if it weren't for the fact that almost 50% of the population is not paying taxes…
Energy Independence
Energy reform is perhaps one of the most critical issues facing Congress as Americans pay high prices at the pump day after day, and our dependence on foreign oil continues to threaten our national security. I believe it is imperative we look for real solutions to lower gas prices for American families and increase domestic energy production to break our dependency on foreign sources of oil.
We can achieve these goals by cutting federal regulations that drive up energy production and processing costs, increasing U.S. capacity to refine crude oil and exploring areas that are currently off limits to domestic production like the Alaskan Energy Slope, the oil shale areas of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and the outer-continental shelf.
In addition, we must look beyond our traditional sources of energy to diversify our supply and find innovative solutions to help protect the environment.
Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources.
Ronald Reagan
EPA'ss WE are Going to Dump You Eco-Turds ,, Abolish all Laws/Policies of Yours ,, and Make You Pay for Your Screw-Ups . What Da Ya think of them apples?
Ii guess you Democrats want the death of your party. We will no longer pay to support your long term political salaries and benefits. Next year is pay no taxes party. Its time you blood sucking varmints look for another line of work. Fact is you probably couldn't handle a low skilled job. See you at the unemployment line.
Great Info Brenda! Now that America's naive eyes are wide open, and the Tea Party is in full stride, we can make a 180 degree change. They should not underestimate the capabilities of a United Republic!
EXCLUSIVE: After a Year of Setbacks, U.N. Looks to Take Charge of World's Agenda Sept 8, 2010
After a year of humiliating setbacks, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and about 60 of his top lieutenants — the top brass of the entire U.N. system — spent their Labor Day weekend at a remote Austrian Alpine retreat, discussing ways to put their sprawling organization in charge of the world’s agenda.
Details concerning the two-day, closed-door sessions in the comfortable village of Alpbach were closely guarded. Nonetheless, position papers for the meeting obtained by Fox News indicate that the topics included:
– how to restore “climate change” as a top global priority after the fiasco of last year’s Copenhagen summit; http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/08/years-set....
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