VIRGINIA BEACH
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced four legislative proposals Monday aimed at pushing Virginia to the forefront of green technology.
The initiatives include grants and tax breaks aimed at manufacturers and consumers.
“We have to invest to make our economy stronger,” said Kaine, speaking from Solar Services Inc., off International Parkway. Green initiatives, he said, “are a key strategy to getting our economy going again.”
The proposals follows Kaine’s announcement a month ago of a “Renew Virginia” plan aimed at protecting the environment and encouraging “green” technology.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Kaine noted Monday, Virginia – and Virginia Beach – was a leader in solar technology. It was maintenance contracts from those long-ago solar panel installations, in fact, that long sustained Solar Services, the host of Monday’s press conference.
Today, Kaine noted, none of the top 10 solar energy companies is American. Only two of the top 10 wind energy companies in the world are American, he said.
“We’ve got to get back to being a leader,” he said.
Added state Sen. Creigh Deeds, who will sponsor two of the governor’s bills, “For me, it’s a question of whether this happens here – whether we lead or whether we follow.”
The measures include grants for producing low- and no-carbon energy sources and alternative energy sources that don’t compete with the food supply. That is, a biofuels producer would get a greater incentive for winter plantings converted to fuel, rather than summer crops converted to biofuels.
Individuals could get up to $8,000 in tax credits for installing alternative energy systems; businesses, up to $20,000. And sales tax exemptions would be offered on the purchase of some alternative energy systems.
Kaine stopped in Virginia Beach on Monday even as he’s on the national stage on two fronts.
Tuesday, he will be in Washington to announce security measures for the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Last week, he was named chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Of the DNC appointment, he said Monday he planned to build off the Democratic party’s “50-state” strategy, the game plan that helped boost Barack Obama to the presidency.
John Warren, (757) 222-5114, john.warren@pilotonline.com
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It is hogwash too!
The reason you can't swim or catch crabs and fish in the Elizabeth River is because industry dumped poisons, pesticides, and other things into the river. It had nothing to do with tax policy.
Hogwash
also, it is not "hogwash" to say that the market is the reason we can no longer swim in the Elizabeth river, not eat the fish, let only find anymore shrimp. Good public policy could have prevented this...decades ago.
The free market doesn't solve every problem
...nor does it keep us from killing ourselves. Everyone go look up "tragedy of the commons".
The shared resource in this picture are the energy resources. Which are not infinate. Even if we don't run out in our lifetime, we do not need to wait for the market supply to drop in order for the price to rise and then we magically make changes. Ok, yes the change would have been created by the market, but bad b/c now we are nearly out of the resource. Not to mention the population growth means the demand will be compounded. This becoming a common sense philosophy, so I agree with Kaine's decision; even though I too am skeptical of global warming. I am not skeptical that we are reaching peak oil supply. And will sometime reach a peak in coal. Public policy is in place to save the market destroying its participants. Kaine is using policy to encourage energy efficiency.
YES! Absolute hogwash!
First I believe global warming is absolute hogwash. The earth has been around for millions of years and will still be here long after you and I are gone. Need to change energy sources? Yes...we need to drill for our own oil and natural gas anywhere we can get it. I have no problem with nuculear, ethanol, bio diesal, hybrid, wind turbine, or hydrogen, as well as coal and oil, but none of us can park their cars tomorrow or stick a windmill on the hood. Well will still require petrolium products for many many years. Solar is too expensive for the little energy it produces. Change energy habits? WHY? Why can't I have the option to pay for the energy I consume especially if I can afford it? I now have a vehicle that gets 30MPG instead of 15MPG because I am cheap. Now I am getting slammed because the gas tax revenues are down. Not sure what you mean by true cost of dirty energy. Another reason is that mining coal and oil are jobs for rural Virginians as well. I think Kaine and the "green fiends" are a bunch of waco's.
Hogwash?
Tell me what you find to be hogwash. I'll grant you my tone is a bit over the top - but it shouldn't hide the fact based arguments I make. Do you disagree with any of these?
Need to change energy sources?
Need to change energy use habits?
True cost of dirty energy not reflected in price paid?
So, you support Coal and Oil with our tax policy instead of emerging technologies?
OLDHOUSESOLAR
Hogwash sir!
True Cost of Dirty Energy...continued...
but we pay it one way or the other - with sickness, lost productivity, shortened life, loss of habitat and fisheries and jobs.
every technology gets government support - it's time to support something that won't kill us - by pollution or war/terrorism partly as a result of our middle east presence. Yes it will take a long time - but we must start changing now to get off of middle eastern oil to power our vehicles, and coal power for our electricity. of course the government needs to help steer the market - it's always been that way and sould always be that way. otherwise human beings (and the corporations made by people) enrich themselves and cheat, slight, pollute, and kill their neighbors to benefit themselves - maybe not by murder - but dying of cancer from pollutants can be prevented/limited. Another huge part of it is conservation, efficiency and elimination of waste. It's incredible the way we Americans run our air conditioners and breath stale indoor air, throw away things like they just go disapear, and use power like it's not CANCER CAUSING COAL BURNING TO CREATE IT - WELL WAKE UP BECAUSE IT IS! We need tax policy to help us begin to change over. Use less, cr
Good God - Free Market Zealots - Are you Serious???
you folks pushing the 'wisdom of the freemarket' etc. - do you know how to look out the window/turn on a tv/listen to a radia/read a newspaper? do you not see what unfettered free market policies get us - greed, corruption, selfishness, excess, absurd risk taking, profit taking, pollution, environmental degradation, wars, sickness and yes - death.
You talk about the solar and wind and hybrid technologies as if they are not robust and fail if they are not supported by the government. DO YOU THINK WE PAY THE COST OF COAL ELECTRICITY UP FRONT? Do you think that dominion cheap $.08/kwhr is the true cost? Are you nuts - let me give you a few terms to snap you out of your foggy stupor - mountaintop removal, black lung, chronic asthma, lung cancer, mercury poisoning, global warming, acid rain, sea level rise, volatile weather, dying chesapeake bay, oyster and crab populations decimated...on and on. these are some of the results of coal power - not to mention petroleum auto energy, etc. these costs to deal with health care and the public costs of these effects are paid by us - they're just not put in the price we pay for burning coal to turn water to steam to spin turbines. but w
boo birds
Mike, maybe you can explain to me what good it does to GIVE my tax money to a solar panel manufacturer when I cannot afford to convert my house to solar. When solar or wind becomes a cost effective way for me to draw my electricity I'll jump on it. Maybe you want to pay $20K to convert my house, but I don't have it.
I must also assume that all recent and new Runnymede construction is outfitted with solar arrays, since you are here chastising us for not wanting to leave our wallets open in support of Kaines latest feel-good pronouncement.
MR BARRETT
Instead of spending your time defending taxing the people why don't you put your considerable (and self professed) expertise on every subject imaginable and solve the problems you have helped create at SPSA?