Washington Senator Maria Cantwell has been busy bouncing around the state talking about the alternative energy provisions (aka pork) added to the $700 billion federal bailout plan. Though she voted against the bailout, “she believes the expansion of green technology is imperative to steer the nation away from foreign oil in favor of cleaner, U.S.-based energy sources.”
A day earlier in Vancouver, Cantwell met with local Columbia Wind Energy to hear “wishlist” items from local leaders of the region’s growing green power field. Room for clean growth is state- and regional wide, the Spokesman-Review says, “Green efforts in Washington and Oregon can create an estimated 68,000 new jobs, reduce buildings’ heating and cooling bills and by 2025 generate 78 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources.”
It’s possible that despite the bleak economic outlook, cost effective clean and green initiatives might just have a better chance than previously thought – and from an unlikely source – a giant deficit. The silver lining in this whole mess is attention being given to alternative energy prospectus
Provisions to the massive bailout, and there are TONS of them, include:
-The solar industry has an eight-year tax break.
-Homeowners can get a 30 percent tax credit toward solar electric or hot water systems.
-Consumers can get tax breaks for installing energy-efficient windows and heating and cooling systems.
-New car buyers can get tax breaks for plug-in electric cars, which the auto industry plans to introduce in 2010.
The DTE blog is committed to reporting and sharing environmental news and sustainability information from across the Inland Northwest.
