As crude oil prices reach the highest nominal levels in US history, John Kerry and John Edwards released their campaign's proposed energy platform -- a plan they say will lower US energy prices, decrease US dependence on foreign oil and ramp up the use of renewable energy and alternative fuels. The plan's goals for renewable energy include some bold initiatives that could catalyze many new projects and kick start an American clean energy industry that has increasingly lost market ground to other countries.

While the Kerry-Edwards proposal covers a vast cross-section of technologies and energy issues, the SolarAccess.com news team pulled out sections pertaining to renewable energy, energy efficiency and other related energy issues. These proposals are merely a campaign platform and would need to be passed by the U.S. Congress which has so far stalled on a wide-variety of proposed energy legislation.

Energy Security and Conservation Trust Fund

As is critical with any major plan, first comes the funding. The Kerry-Edwards plans would create an "Energy Security and Conservation Trust Fund" - capitalized with over US$20 billion from existing federal offshore oil and gas royalty revenues - to create a permanent funding stream to develop new clean fuels and technologies for our future. The Kerry-Edwards campaign said their energy plan would be made revenue neutral by using savings from the federal government's electricity bill (which is currently $8 billion a year) and the reauthorization of the superfund tax.

Among other things, the Trust Fund would:

- Help Plants Retool: Provide new incentives to enable U.S. automobile manufacturing facilities to re-tool their plants to build the more efficient, advanced technology automobiles of the future;
- Help American consumers purchase more advanced technology vehicles by establishing consumer incentives of up to $5,000 per vehicle for the purchase of clean efficient vehicles;
- Use Purchasing Power of the Federal Government toward supporting the market for hybrid and advanced diesel vehicles.

A New National Commitment to Alternative Fuels

20 Percent by 2020. The Kerry-Edwards Energy Trust Fund will also create a "Clean Fuels Partnership" that will bring together government, agriculture and industry to put America on a path to meeting 20 percent of its motor fuel demand with domestically-produced alternative transportation fuels by 2020. To meet this new goal, the plan will include policies to:

- Establish a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS): Gasoline sellers will be required to include an increasing percentage of renewable fuels from corn, soybeans, agricultural residues and other biomass to ensure a minimum of 5 billion gallons per year by 2012.
- Accelerate the Production and Use of Ethanol and Biodiesel: The Kerry Administration will fund research and development to reduce the cost and expand production of new advanced biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol and other clean fuels from waste products in all regions of the US.
- Extend the Ethanol Tax Incentive: Currently, tax incentives for renewable fuels are set to expire in 2007. Kerry and Edwards will extend them until 2020 and will include both ethanol and biodiesel. The campaign said this will ensure ongoing development in the renewable fuels sector which will enhance diversification and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
- Reinforce the Long Term Move to Hydrogen: The Clean Fuels Partnership would fund research to help solve critical problems in developing a hydrogen fuel economy, such as infrastructure needs and vehicle challenges.

Diversifying Sources of Energy

The Kerry-Edwards proposal to diversify sources of energy doesn't leave very much out either. While there are some major proposals for renewable energy, the Kerry-Edwards plan pursues a wide range of current technologies such as developing more natural gas supplies, and what appears to be a particular emphasis on "cleaner" coal technologies such as gasification. More specifics follow:

Make Coal Part of the 21st Century Energy Solution

Kerry and Edwards "believe that coal should be an integral part of the solution to our energy and environmental challenges and that we need to harness new technologies and new ideas to develop and deploy clean and reliable energy from coal." Their energy plan calls for a $10 billion investment over the next decade - a five-fold increase - to help transition from the current fleet of older coal plants to cleaner and more advanced coal-fueled power plants, such as by using coal gasification. They "reject the old view that coal cannot be part of a clean energy future and will begin to build the clean coal facilities of the future today."

Ensure 20 percent of US Electricity Comes From Renewable Sources By 2020

Here's where renewable energy would get a major boost. Kerry and Edwards will establish a national goal of producing 20 percent of the nation's electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, by 2020. Fourteen states in the US have enacted similar legislation and in most cases these policies have been major catalysts for new renewable energy projects and robust green tags markets.

Concerning green tags, Kerry and Edwards support a renewable energy credit trading market so more renewable energy is deployed at lower costs and production tax credits to drive these technologies into the marketplace. The campaign said this plan will help the U.S. regain the manufacturing leadership America has lost to foreign companies in the production of renewable energy technologies like solar panels and wind power.

Nuclear

Kerry and Edwards are not about to leave nuclear energy out in the cold either. Nuclear energy currently provides about 20 percent of America's electricity today, and both Kerry and Edwards say in their energy proposal that "nuclear power can play an essential role in providing affordable energy while reducing the risk of climate change; however key challenges such as nuclear waste disposal, nuclear nonproliferation, and plant security must be met." The two specifically said they did not support Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste disposal site and will insist that nuclear waste disposal and transportation proceed only on the basis of rigorous peer-reviewed science and analysis.

Strengthening the Electric Grid

In a slightly vague section of their energy policy platform, the Kerry-Edwards energy plan would aim to make the electric grid more reliable and safe - especially in light of last summer's debilitating blackout that left large parts of the country in the dark. Among the proposed plans was the deployment of "new technologies" that are clean, efficient, reliable and less vulnerable to terrorism.

Job Creation with High Tech Industries

The Kerry-Edwards campaign looks to have embraced the job creation angle with respect to renewable energy technologies. America once led the world in the production of clean energy products like wind turbines and solar panels. Those gains have since been lost to European countries for wind and Japan for solar energy. By aggressively pursuing renewable energy options like wind, biomass and solar, the Kerry-Edwards plan would aim to create new economic opportunity for farmers, landowners and small businesses. The Kerry-Edwards campaign said a major gap exists today in the capital markets, slowing the deployment of clean energy technologies.

Production Tax Credit (PTC)

The campaign said their aforementioned Energy Trust Fund, federal incentives, including loan guarantees, targeted grants, and tax credits, will encourage job creation. Additionally, to enhance capital availability, Kerry and Edwards support extension of the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) to the full array of renewable technologies for a period of not less than 5-7 years. Like the 20 percent renewable energy mandate, this long-term PTC extension would provide a major boost for renewable energy technologies. The unpredictability of frequent short term extensions, and expiration in the past few years has significantly hindered investment. The wind industry's plight this year offers a case for a more steady predictable tax climate. The PTC was again allowed to expire by Congress leading to a stark decline in wind power development in the US.

For the full Kerry-Edwards plan see the first of two links below.

For the full Bush-Cheney energy platform, see the second of two links below.