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2.27.2011

How Much Tax Money Goes to Fossil Energy Companies

Q:just how much of our tax money is going to ExxonMobil, Massey, etc.? With the new deficit hawks in Congress going after insignificant items like bottled water expenses, you'd think they'd want to know the size of the really wasteful stuff, right?

A:
There have been counts, ranging from $10 billion a year by the Environmental Law Institute, to the more comprehensive, $52 billion a year by Doug Koplow of EarthTrack. But, do taxpayers even have a widely accepted, comprehensive inventory of how of our money is being handed to the dirty energy lobby by politicians?  That includes state-level subsidies, by the way, such as the $45 million that Virginia gives to the coal industry

-Find Your Representatives-Republican or Democrat, and Let Your Voice BE HEARD! Active Participation is Suggested  TellMyPolitician

Why We Still Don't Know How Much Money Goes to Fossil Energy

By Mike Casey   |   February 16, 2011  

The national conversation about wasteful welfare for highly profitable dirty energy corporations has gone from the dramatic statement by the Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency that fossil fuel subsidies are one of the biggest impediments to global economic recovery ("the appendicitis of the global energy system which needs to be removed for a healthy, sustainable development future"), to a speech by Solar Energy Industries Association President Rhone Resch (in which he called the fossil fuel industry "grotesquely oversubsidized"), to a call by President Obama to cut oil company welfare by $4 billion.
 
Not to be outdone, House Democrats are now calling for a $40 billion cut.
Dirty energy welfare defenders have, predictably, responded with ridiculous, Palin-esque denials of reality, but the voter demands that wasteful spending be cut begs the question: just how much of our tax money is going to ExxonMobil, Massey, etc.? With the new deficit hawks in Congress going after insignificant items like bottled water expenses, you'd think they'd want to know the size of the really wasteful stuff, right?

The problem is, we've long suspected that no one really knows how much of our money goes to dirty oil executives like Rex Tillerson and Gregory Boyce. There have been counts, ranging from $10 billion a year by the Environmental Law Institute, to the more comprehensive, $52 billion a year by Doug Koplow of EarthTrack. But, do taxpayers even have a widely accepted, comprehensive inventory of how of our money is being handed to the dirty energy lobby by politicians?  That includes state-level subsidies, by the way, such as the $45 million that Virginia gives to the coal industry.

Energy trends analyst Chris Namovicz of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) was the latest speaker in our "Communicating Energy" lecture series. We took the opportunity to ask one of the top, neutral energy trends analysts in the country the question, "Do you know if someone has actually done a credible, comprehensive, definitive count of how much taxpayers underwrite fossil fuels in this country?" We added the thought that "there's no one really widely available number whereaverage citizens can say, yeah, this much of my money goes to pay ExxonMobil.
According to Namovicz, there really isn't such a widely available, definitive, comprehensive number.

http://www.youtube.com/v/2B4tgpqjXuY&amp
Right…we're not accounting for the nuclear insurance subsidy, we're not accounting for military oil shipping, we're not even accounting for the tax depreciation benefits that some resources get over others...
The fact is, there is a wide array of government subsidies, both implicit and explicit, that are doled out every year to fossil fuel companies. One estimate, by the Environmental Law Institute, finds that dirty energy companies in the United States alone have run up a $72 billion tab at the taxpayer's bar from 2002 to 2008. Worldwide, it's far worse; as this study by the OECD explains:
The [International Energy Agency] estimates that direct subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by artificially lowering end-user prices for fossil fuels amounted to $312 billion in 2009. In addition, a number of mechanisms can be identified, also in advanced economies, which effectively support fossil-fuel production or consumption, such as tax expenditures, under-priced access to scarce resources under government control (e.g., land) and the transfer of risks to governments (e.g., via concessional loans or guarantees). These subsidies are more difficult to identify and estimate compared with direct consumer subsidies.
As we pointed out in a recent post, these subsidies aren't just reckless and stupid, they aren't even what people want. In fact, only 8 percent of Americans prefer their tax money be given to highly profitable, mature industries such as ExxonMobil and Massey Energy.

Shouldn't there be a definitive count of energy subsidies? As we're looking at cutting waste from our federal (and states') budgets, shouldn't there be a credible accounting of all the ways we pay to grease the way for these mature, highly profitable industries? We're not talking about one done by dirty energy lobbyists or their hired "experts," by the way, but a real inventory done by those who wouldn't profit by a lower or incomplete count. Such an accounting should include:
  • Tax breaks
  • Dirty subsidies
  • The costs of government agencies that are set up to perform functions that these industries should pay full cost for doing – such as figuring out how to stuff their pollution underground instead of wasting it on exorbitant, fantasy projects like "FutureGen."
  • Military expenditures to protect oil shipping lanes.
  • Pollution forgiveness or remediation
  • Rock-bottom priced access to public property – mountains, subsurface property, aquifers, ocean waters -- which fossil energy companies routinely wreck and pay comparatively little to fix.
We need to force politicians to be aggressively honest about how much of our money is going to TillersonBoyce., BlankenshipO'ReillyLesar, etc. Until they do, the anti-clean energy bigmouths in Congress who are bashing clean energy policy support need to back way off. And, the dirty energy lobby mouthpieces who propagandize how "cheap" dirty energy is, should do the same. Directly or indirectly, we're paying their salaries.

-Find Your Representatives-Republican or Democrat, and Let Your Voice BE HEARD! Active Participation is Suggested TellMyPolitician

Article by: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2011/02/top-eia-energy-trends-watcher-no-definitive-count-on-dirty-energy-welfare?cmpid=WindNL-Thursday-February24-2011
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2.26.2011

USA vs China- Renewable Energy News

Fact is we're in a race with China. The nation that weans itself from imported fossil fuels first will have an enormous economic advantage. China is no longer willing to be just the "low cost supplier" – its workers are getting raises – but it does plan on using wind and solar energy, along with hydropower and even nuclear energy, to enhance its national security.

The question we have to ask is, can we afford to do less? China thinks renewable energy can help its grandchildren earn more than your grandchildren. Are we up to the challenge? Or are we going to let troubles in places like Libya drive our future?

Those are the stakes. I think most Americans understand this, and it's why renewable energy remains popular. Even in states dominated by conservative Republicans, efforts to overturn renewable energy targets are falling short.


Bolstering Renewables with Patriotism emphasis added by scotty

By Dana Blankenhorn   |   February 23, 2011

Yesterday I asked whether there is a way to trump the arguments of natural gas, on behalf of renewable energy.

The responses were interesting. Some believe we can't. Others that we must. Some pointed out that natural gas prices are volatile, others noted the volatility of energy from wind.

My article focused on the issue of fracturing, exploding small bombs deep in the Earth's crust to stimulate delivery of gas. I acknowledged that while the concerns are real the argument is not winning the day.

Today I want to propose that we have two trump cards to play right now at a time when lawmakers are re-evaluating incentives for many renewable energy programs: Libya and China.

The price explosion that followed recent unrest in Libya can happen at any time, and in many places. Each time it happens, economies that depend on fossil fuels are hit hard. The stock market tanks. We wind up rooting against democracy for fear that our own jobs could disappear if it triumphed. It's a sin we're constantly reminded of on the world stage, a reality our high ideals can't absolve us of.

Fact is that when you tie your economy to a common commodity that is imported you lose your autonomy. America's national security is in the hands of others. Our best and bravest are sent to fight and die to maintain supply lines, even when alternative technologies exist that can cut those ties and reduce that dependence.

China's next five-year plan  (yes, they still have them) focuses on higher wages and domestic demand. But its key buzzword on the supply side is renewable energy.

In an effort to keep growing while expanding renewable energy to 20% of domestic demand by 2020, our rival plans on doing the very same things America's renewable industry wants us to do, starting with a tax on pollution. A carbon trading system is also expected to be part of the plan, due for ratification next month, with environmental and energy efficiency declared "priority industries" for the first time.

Fact is we're in a race with China. The nation that weans itself from imported fossil fuels first will have an enormous economic advantage. China is no longer willing to be just the "low cost supplier" – its workers are getting raises – but it does plan on using wind and solar energy, along with hydropower and even nuclear energy, to enhance its national security.

The question we have to ask is, can we afford to do less? China thinks renewable energy can help its grandchildren earn more than your grandchildren. Are we up to the challenge? Or are we going to let troubles in places like Libya drive our future?

Those are the stakes. I think most Americans understand this, and it's why renewable energy remains popular. Even in states dominated by conservative Republicans, efforts to overturn renewable energy targets are falling short.

I think we have the wind at our backs. Let's not be afraid to use patriotism to close the deal.



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Scott's Contracting
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Interesting Info about Feed-In Tariffs and Energy Production

...who would not put solar on their (unshaded) roof? If solar power only costs you 15 cents per kilowatt-hour from your roof, and power from your socket costs you 16.5 cents, you already have a 10 percent profit, and that profit margin will only increase...just as we continue to subsidize coal and oil sectors, which have been profitable for 150 years now.


Feed-in Tariffs Needed After Grid Parity

By Craig Morris, Petite Planète   |   February 22, 2011
A few weeks ago, US solar market analyst Paula Mints published an article essentially arguing that solar is about to reach an "un-incentivized future." Don't hold your breath.

There can be no doubt that photovoltaics (PV) has depended upon governmental support. In particular, where proper feed-in tariffs have been offered, PV has done well – and where such policies were quickly discontinued, markets have collapsed.



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Scott's Contracting
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New Reports Chart Path-Net Zero-Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings

high levels of energy efficiency are the first, largest and most important step on the way to net-zero

New Reports Chart Path to Zero-Net-Energy Commercial Buildings
Press Release Washington, D.C. (February 23, 2011)

– Two new reports from the Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC) on achieving net-zero-energy use in commercial buildings say “high levels of energy efficiency are the first, largest and most important step on the way to net-zero.”

Leading national organizations such as the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE), American Institute of Architects (AIA), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions (ASERTTI), the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and many other commercial building stakeholders worked together over the last year to develop the reports, which highlight the need for new approaches in technology research and deployment, holistic building design and financing as critical elements to further advance energy efficiency in the commercial buildings sector.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) commissioned the reports from the CBC, an industry consortium led by the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), the Alliance to Save Energy (Alliance) and other leading national organizations to identify barriers and make recommendations to industry stakeholders for achieving net-zero-energy commercial buildings over the next two to three decades.

There are many definitions of net-zero-energy buildings, but typically they are highly energy efficient buildings that use no more energy than they can produce on site on an annual basis.

The Next Generation Technologies: Barriers and Industry Recommendations for Commercial Buildings and the Analysis of Cost and; Non-Cost Barriers and Policy Solutions for Commercial Buildings focus on innovative technologies and practices and market-oriented strategies, respectively. (Free copies of the full reports can be downloaded from the CBC website.)

The CBC reports are quite timely, following closely on President Obama’s February 3 announcement about the new Better Buildings Initiative, which is aimed at improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 20 percent over the next 10 years by stimulating private investment in building energy efficiency, generating new jobs in construction and facilities operation and saving commercial building owners and tenants nearly $40 billion yearly on utility bills.

“While many details remain to be settled, the Better Buildings Initiative is a very exciting development for the commercial buildings sector, and the CBC fully supports its goals and looks forward to working with CBC members and industry stakeholders to contribute to these efforts,” according to NASEO Executive Director David Terry. “The President’s initiative targets many of the same barriers examined by CBC members over the last year, which are summarized in the two major reports just released by the CBC.”

David Hewitt, lead author of one of the CBC reports and executive director of the New Buildings Institute, noted that “National initiatives such as the BBI can build on and complement important new initiatives by states and utilities, such as California’s Zero Net Energy Action Plan. The job ahead is big enough that everyone’s efforts are needed, and they need to be coordinated – that’s exactly why we created the CBC.”

Additional recommendations in the two reports include:

Create and sustain market demand for energy efficiency retrofits and new construction through innovative approaches to financing and valuation of energy efficiency improvements. 

• Emphasize voluntary programs, such as President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge, to catalyze change in corporate culture through strong leadership and commitment to energy efficiency. 

• Enhance and extend building energy codes and standards to cover all energy end uses, emphasize building and systems commissioning and long-term performance.


• Promote wide-scale use of integrated design and whole-building approaches to achieve more aggressive and dramatic energy reductions. 

• Refine modeling and decision-making tools to fully support new financing, codes, design and benchmarking approaches. 

• Develop and build consensus around national workforce standards and increase training efforts for the professional and technical workforce on energy-efficient building design, auditing, retrofitting, commissioning and operations.

“The long-term road to net-zero begins with what we can do today,” notes Alliance Senior Vice President Jeff Harris. “This includes broad application of today’s best energy efficiency technology and sustained energy management practices in the existing stock of commercial buildings. We also need to design new commercial buildings to be ‘net-zero-ready,’ so that it’s easier to continually improve their energy performance as new and even better technologies are introduced over the next 30-50 years – the expected lifetime of today’s new buildings.

Article from: News You Can Use for February 24, 2011

Scotts Contracting can assist you in making your Building a Net-Zero - Energy Efficient Property.  Click Here to email for additional Information


Federal Incentives for Green Construction

Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings Download the Report Here

Currently, going green is largely accomplished through offering a series of legal incentives to businesses and clients who work together to use sustainable practices while constructing green buildings. One of the first major federal bills to implement such measures was the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Amendments and additional provisions were made in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as well as the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, with more comprehensive reform made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

 

Many of the provisions in these acts offer tax credits or cash grants to businesses and consumers who invest in sustainable buildings and forms of energy. For example, the Business Energy Investment Tax Credit encourages companies to purchase new equipment that sustainably generates energy for the company's buildings and operations.

 

Legislators' efforts during the 111th Congress to promote green building also included the Green Affordable Housing Act of 2009, the Green Communities Act and the GREEN Act of 2010. These bills sought to provide financial assistance for green retrofits to federally subsidized housing projects, grants for community greening programs, and to encourage development of renewable energy for residential and commercial buildings. Although none of these bills survived to become law, they may resurface.

 

Additionally, the 112th Congress is already considering other legislation, such as the Heat Island and Smog Reduction Act (that targets federal buildings for certain green improvements) and the Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act (that would provide funding to help American clean energy businesses export their products). Neither of these bills specifically provides direct incentives for green construction, but their promotion of environmentally conscientious renovation and energy use bode well for future legislative trends.

 

These kinds of incentives help defray the higher initial costs of a green building investment, making the long-term environmental and economic benefits more attractive. One major reason why offering legal incentives is so important is that one of the largest impediments to green building is the up-front cost associated with newer technologies, materials and building methods. Installing solar panels that are capable of powering a home is significantly more costly than using traditional sources of energy. However, a recent study suggests that an additional two percent investment can bring a tenfold return throughout the life of the building.

 

Despite the long-term financial benefits of such projects, the greater initial cost deters many consumers from even considering them. However, with the legislative boost of more programs offering tax credits and cash grants and setting an example by employing green construction in government buildings, the prevalence of green construction may be expected to continue growing.


Read the Complete Article at> The Builders Counsel Blog @ builderscounsel.com/2011/02/federal-incentives-for-green-construction/
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Interesting Points about the US Oil Reserves

...The government, by systematically releasing 200,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil a day from the STP until the events in Libya are resolved, could break the trading psychology that has overtaken the U.S. oil market and bring down the the price of WTI crude by some $20 to $30 a barrel... many Americans are freezing in the cold of winter permitting a given sector of the economy to cash in...

The Looming Economic Crisis, the Price of Oil, and Our Strategic Petroleum Reserve Raymond J. Learsy

The price of oil for West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) now sits at over $100 a barrel. WTI is the benchmark for the price of oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMerc) and delivered in the United States with Cushing Oklahoma as the point of delivery. The other benchmark for oil pricing is Brent North Sea Oil traded in world exchanges especially London. Today the quoted price for WTI is $101/bbl while Brent is trading significantly higher at $114/bbl.

The difference reflects a difference in supply in the U.S. domestic market and that of the European and otherwise world markets. We have ample supply of oil in the United States with stocks both commercial and government (the Strategic Petroleum Reserve --'SPR') at or near all time highs.

Yet the events in Libya, more out of fear and distorted trading on the exchanges have pushed the price of oil to levels that are threatening the economic recovery worldwide even though our market is amply supplied. Yet, importantly, because of the current schism in the price of oil (WTI vs Brent) we are in a position to do something about it.

We have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve holding some 750 million barrels of oil -- available to the nation in case of national emergency. The looming economic crises caused by the massive jump in oil prices must certainly be classified a national emergency.

Given that our oil markets are well stocked, it is the traded price of oil that poses the grave economic danger. The government, by systematically releasing 200,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil a day from the STP until the events in Libya are resolved, could break the trading psychology that has overtaken the U.S. oil market and bring down the the price of WTI crude by some $20 to $30 a barrel. It might not impact the price of Brent crude directly but would certainly send a message to the International Energy Agency (IEA) to do likewise in that they control government stocks of 1.4 billion barrels.

Of course the oil industry and most likely the likes of the American Petroleum Institute will marshal their lobbying firepower to forestall such a dynamic initiative by the administration. Such attempts will once again underline the divergence in interests, priorities and responsibility between the oil interests and the nation's well being. Should that come to pass, perhaps this is the moment to strongly consider the 'Norway solution' and nationalize the oil industry altogether. Certainly in Norway the national patrimony of that nation's oil riches and its administration has benefited that nation making it the envy of much of the world. There is something wrong with our system whereby many Americans are freezing in the cold of winter permitting a given sector of the economy to cash in.



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Scott's Contracting
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Suggested Reading- Wall Construction Air and Water Issues

The importance of location of the proper air barriers, vapor barriers
and water resistive
barriers on the wall and the roles they play in high‐performing EIFS

Evaluation of the Moisture Performance of EIFS Walls Without
Interior Vapor Barriers

find the white papers here:
http://www.dryvit.com/fileshare/doc/architect/White_Papers_Barriers.pdf
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Scott's Contracting
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http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com

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