Groups Want to Stop Politicizing Green Energy

Bill Opalka | Jun 24, 2012

The U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (US PREF) released a series of white papers at the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE)'s Renewable Energy Finance Forum - Wall Street in New York on June 19.

The groups say the effort is to rebalance the debate about renewable energy toward a fact-based business analysis instead of the politicized rhetoric that dominates discussions currently.
PREF members provided analyses that show how crucial renewable energy is as part of the nation's overall energy mix.
“There's never been a more important time for our country to adopt a genuine all-of-the-above energy strategy,” said Neil Auerbach, co-managing partner of Hudson Clean Energy Partners, a private equity firm that invests exclusively in clean energy. “We have the opportunity now to cultivate American business and innovation, support long-term job growth, fortify national security, decrease energy costs, and realize a host of environmental benefits.”
A common, bemoaned refrain at renewable energy gatherings is to hear reference to “Republican electrons” from coal and nuclear power and “Democratic electrons” from wind and solar.
US PREF cites international competition as a threat to continued U.S. innovation and global leadership.
The U.S. invested $48.1 billion in clean energy in 2011. “We are working with the renewable energy, power and technology industry leaders to pursue continued development of the U.S. renewable energy sector. This is an important opportunity to underscore U.S. leadership as we seek technologies to power future global growth and redefine our national energy strategy,” said Jeff Holzschuh, vice chairman at Morgan Stanley.
The white papers released by US PREF illustrate how large-scale deployment of renewable electricity sources has produced dramatic cost reductions, while fostering innovation that has increased efficiency across entire supply chains.
State and federal policies are working in concert to drive this large-scale deployment and innovation. While federal incentives such as the production and investment tax credits bolster the supply of renewable energy, support for renewable energy demand has been augmented by state renewable portfolio standards (RPS). RPS “demand pull" is now reaching a plateau, however, of 3.25 GW per year of new renewable generating capacity through 2030.
To publicize the renewables message, ACORE on June 20 launched EnergyFactCheck.org and @EnergyFactCheck, two new resources designed to address the imbalance in the American debate.
“Clean and renewable energy is popular, productive, growing and essential to America’s economy, energy independence and national security.” said ACORE President and CEO Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn. “Unfortunately, misperceptions of clean and renewable energy abound, and opponents of renewables are pushing the occasional bad news as if it’s the only news. They are dominating the conversation through misrepresentation, exaggeration, distraction and millions of dollars in lobbying and advertising.”

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