OBAMA ADMINISTRATION INITIATIVE TARGETS $10B IN RENEWABLE ENERGY EXPORTS
Kathleen Hart- UAE Weekly Energy Brief
The U.S. Department of Commerce joined seven other federal agencies in launching an initiative aimed at doubling renewable energy exports in the next five years, with a target of $10 billion or more in annual export benefits.
Through the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative, the Obama administration intends to support exports by offering new financing products, enhancing market access, increasing trade promotion and improving the delivery of export promotion services to renewable energy companies. The federal government is also launching an online portal as part of the initiative to provide renewable energy companies easier access to government export resources.
In addition, the Commerce Department said it is committing to an increased number of renewable energy and energy efficiency trade and trade policy missions. Energy is a $6 trillion global market and clean energy is the fastest-growing sector, the department said in a Dec. 7 news release.
The U.S. Department of Energy, which is part of the initiative, is investing in instrumental market research and discovery aimed at helping focus federal resources for trade promotion. For example, the DOE plans to identify U.S.-manufactured energy efficiency products likely to be competitive in global markets and, in collaboration with U.S. trade associations, will explore the creation of guides for foreign buyers listing technologies and services available from U.S. providers.
"Expanding U.S. clean technology exports is a critical step to ensuring America's economic competitiveness in the years ahead," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a Dec. 7 news release.
"The initiatives we are announcing today will provide us with a better understanding of the global clean energy marketplace and help boost U.S. exports."
The initiative is the federal government's first coordinated effort to support the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency exports and is designed to facilitate an increase of exports during the next five years, helping to meet the goals of the National Export Initiative and President Barack Obama's challenge to become the leading exporter of clean energy technologies.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke created a Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee to help the Obama administration achieve its goal of doubling renewable energy exports in the next five years. The advisory committee met Dec. 7 and outlined its work for the coming year. Geothermal Energy Association Executive Director Karl Gawell, chair of the advisory committee, said in a statement that there was a "strong consensus that first we need to help decision makers understand that a strong domestic market is key to expanding US exports and that US leadership in these technologies will pay dividends in billions of dollars in new exports."
Worldwide markets for renewable and efficiency technologies are substantial and growing. The Geothermal Energy Association cited a Commerce Department report finding that $162 billion of private sector capital was invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies globally in 2009. "Expanding US exports in these markets will not be without challenges, as worldwide governments from China to Germany also see the opportunities they present," the association said in the statement. "As the [Commerce Department] report notes, 'Globally, nations are using [renewable energy and energy efficiency] as a catalyst to promote economic growth and to create high-tech, high-wage jobs for their citizens. As of 2009, stimulus bills worldwide invested an additional $183 billion in [renewable energy and energy efficiency] technologies.'"
The advisory committee, made up of leaders in the renewable energy and energy efficiency fields, is expected to provide advice and recommendations on a number of topics, including assessing the competitiveness of the U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries and their ability to develop products, services and technologies; helping guide trade policy development and negotiations; and developing programs to encourage U.S. producers to enter foreign markets.
Along with Gawell and Vice Chair Tom Weirich, vice president of membership and corporate relations at the American Council on Renewable Energy, the committee has 25 members, some from individual businesses and some from advocacy groups.
COMPROMISE TAX BILL FALTERS, BUT DEMOCRATS STILL PUSH FOR RENEWABLES PROVISIONS
Andrew Engblom – UAE Weekly Energy Brief
As House Democrats decided Dec. 9 not to consider the compromise tax bill negotiated by President Barack Obama and House Republicans, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said the Obama administration remained in support of an extension of the U.S. Treasury Department's cash grant program for renewable energy.
"We strong believe that it should be continued," Locke told attendees of an American Council of Renewable Energy conference, held in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington. "We were very disappointed that the Republican leadership blocked the inclusion, but we remain committed to continuing these vital tax provisions."
According to news reports, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said changes would have to be made to the tax proposal before she would let legislation come up for a vote.
The Treasury cash grant program, Locke said, has been a remarkable success that has resulted in the creation of thousands of new jobs across the country.
The renewable energy industry has been pushing hard for an extension of the program for months, but since the Nov. 2 elections, the industry's representatives have made the extension their highest priority. Without the program, both the wind and solar energy industries said Dec. 8 that they expect their industries to contract in terms of both jobs and installations.
Speaking earlier, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a House Democratic leader who led the challenge of the compromise bill, said that he still believed the Section 1603 provision was moving forward.
The decision by the House Democratic Caucus to reject the compromise tax bill was not binding.
In addition, Van Hollen said that he was pushing for the extension of the 48C tax credit used by renewable energy equipment manufacturers. Still, he added, Section 1603 has the greatest backing.
"The deal that was apparently negotiated between the White House and Republicans did not include a provision that all of us worked to get included and I think most of us would like to see it extended," Van Hollen said. "I do think that they are making substantial progress on Section 1603."
WHITE HOUSE, CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS COMPROMISE ON EXTENDING TAX RELIEF
NAM Capital Briefing
With the lame-duck session of the 111th Congress approaching its conclusion, President Obama and congressional Republicans reached an agreement earlier this week to address the pending expiration of the tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003 that has been so beneficial to manufacturers and the broader economy. This tax relief included a phase-out of the estate tax and lower individual tax rates and tax rates on investment income. Congress must now pass legislation and send it back to the President to be signed into law.
The agreement announced December 6 calls for lower tax rates on individual and investment income to be fully extended for two years through 2012. The NAM supports this extension but believes the best outcome for manufacturers would be for this tax relief to be made permanent to encourage investment and long-term growth. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, fully extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would add between 600,000 and 1.4 million jobs in 2011 and between 900,000 and 2.7 million jobs in 2012.
In addition to an extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief for all taxpayers, the agreement includes a number of other pro-manufacturing provisions, including temporary 100-percent expensing and a two-year extension of the business extenders package, including research and development (R&D) tax credit.
If Congress fails to act, these lower rates will expire on December 31, resulting in a top income tax rate of nearly 40 percent and a 164-percent increase in the dividend tax. About 73 percent of all manufacturers are organized as S-corporations or other flow-through entities that pay income taxes at the individual rate, and they will be disproportionately impacted if the tax relief is not extended.
After the compromise was announced by the President, congressional leaders in both parties began efforts to move the agreement through the legislative process. While some changes may be made to the compromise agreement as it moves through the legislative process, policymakers are hopeful that the basic structure of the agreement will remain intact and that it will be approved by Congress in the near future.
Manufacturers will continue to work with both Congress and the Administration to find a path forward to extend this critical tax relief. With an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, now is not the time to raise taxes on small businesses who are the job creators. Keeping tax rates low will reduce the uncertainty that has plagued the business community. Providing more certainty will help manufacturers invest, add jobs and compete in the global economy.
This may be the last act of the 111th Congress, and it is important that it takes action to stimulate our economy and create jobs.
HILL POISED TO VOTE ON END-OF-YEAR TAX PACKAGE
NAM Capital Briefing
Here is a link<http://finance.senate.gov/legislation/details/?id=10874ed6-5056-a032-52cd-99708697eff0> to a summary of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010, which includes much of the "framework agreement," announced December 6th by President Obama. The legislation includes a number of NAM priorities including:
* An extension of the Bush tax cuts for 2 years (through 2012), including the top two income tax rates and the 15% rate on capital gains and dividend tax rates;
* An estate tax with a 35 % tax rate and $5 million exemption for two years;
* A two-year extension (2010) of the R&D tax credit, deferral of active financing and the look through rules as well as numerous other business and energy tax extenders; and
* 100% business expensing for one year (2011), followed by 50 percent bonus depreciation for 2012 (the provision also allows taxpayers to elect to accelerate some AMT credits in lieu of bonus depreciation for taxable years 2011 and 2012.
Based on the latest information, the Senate will vote on cloture late Monday afternoon. If this passes, a vote on final passage could occur as early as Tuesday. We will keep you posted on any additional information. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please contact me.
Administration Announces Export Controls Reform
NAM Capital Briefing
The Administration recently announced a number of important export control reforms. The NAM has been at the forefront of the effort to obtain reform of the outmoded export controls system that has held back U.S. exports needlessly while becoming, as Defense Secretary Gates stated, "a threat to national security." The NAM has been working closely with the Administration and Congress since the beginning of this Administration and has taken a leading role in developing specific recommendations for consideration that would improve security and competitiveness. The reforms announced this week largely mirror recommendations made by the NAM to streamline the process, assess foreign availability, institute new licensing mechanisms and focus limited government resources on those truly sensitive items.
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MOTIONS FOR STAY DENIED IN GHG REGULATION CHALLENGES
James Holtkamp – Holland and Hart (UMA Air Quality Sub Committee Chair)
Attached is the per curiam order of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today (12-10-10) denying the motions for stay in the various challenges to the EPA's GHG regulations, including the Endangerment Finding and the Tailoring Rule. This means that the PSD Tailoring Rule will become effective on January 2, 2011. Utah DAQ is well on its way to adopting the rules necessary for DAQ to administer the tailoring Rule in Utah.
GOVERNOR FUNDS PUBLIC EDUCATION GROWTH, OTHER EDUCATION ITEMS IN FY12 BUDGET
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Governor Gary R. Herbert released his budget for Fiscal Year 2012, recommending, for the first time in three years, funding for public education growth in Utah. In addition to $50 million in ongoing money for K-12 enrollment growth, the Governor’s budget recommends allocating $7.
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UTAH EARNS HIGH GRADES IN NATIONAL REPORT CARD ON RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAMS
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Utah achieved high grades in the newly released 2010 edition of Freeing the Grid, a national report on policies that empower U.S. energy customers to use on-site solar and other renewables to meet their own electricity needs. View Full Article
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U.S. HEALTH-CARE LAW REQUIREMENT THROWN OUT BY JUDGE
By Tom Schoenberg and Margaret Cronin Fisk - Dec 13, 2010 10:39 AM MT
The insurance requirement in President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation goes beyond Congress’s powers to regulate interstate commerce, said the judge. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Play Video
Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration’s requirement that most citizens maintain minimum health coverage as part of a broad overhaul of the industry is unconstitutional because it forces people to buy insurance, a federal judge ruled, striking down the linchpin of the president’s plan. Bloomberg's Megan Hughes talks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg)
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. Photographer: Jay Paul/Bloomberg
The Obama administration’s requirement that most citizens maintain minimum health coverage as part of a broad overhaul of the industry is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled, striking down the linchpin of the plan.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Virginia, said today that the requirement in President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation goes beyond Congress’s powers to regulate interstate commerce. While severing the coverage mandate, which was to become effective in 2014, Hudson didn’t address other provisions such as expanding Medicaid.
Hudson, appointed by President George W. Bush, found the minimum essential coverage provision of the act “exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power.”
The ruling is the government’s first loss in a series of challenges to the law mounted in federal courts in Virginia, Michigan and Florida, where 20 states have joined an effort to have the statute thrown out. Constitutional scholars said unless Congress changes the law, its fate on appeal will probably hinge on the views of the U.S. Supreme Court’s more conservative members.
“I am gratified we prevailed,” Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement.
“This won’t be the final round, as this will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, but today is a critical milestone in the protection of the Constitution.”
Shares Gain
U.S. health-care stocks extended gains after the ruling. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Health Care Index rose 0.5 percent at 12 p.m. New York time. UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Coventry Health Care Inc. led gains.
Tracy Schmaler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Justice Department, didn’t immediately reply to voicemail and e-mail messages seeking comment on Hudson’s decision. Reid Cherlin, a White House spokesman, did not immediately reply to an e-mailed request for comment.
“Some prominent conservative justices will go against it, but there is no serious indication that every single one will go against it,”, Mark Hall, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, who serves on a federal advisory board set up to help implement the law, said ahead of the ruling.
“There’s a lot of activity focused now on alternatives to the mandate,” said Dan Mendelson, chief executive officer of Avalere Health, a Washington-based consulting firm. One option might be to provide access to all people, even ones with pre- existing conditions, to buy insurance, and limit the times they could sign up
Carrot and Stick
“It’s using a carrot instead of a stick,” Mendelson said in a telephone interview last week.
Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for health insurers’ Washington lobby group America’s Health Insurance Plans, declined to comment on the record about whether insurers had discussed such an alternative with the administration or whether there was a way to design such a policy in a way that would be sufficient to replace the effects of the individual mandate. Through the individual mandate and expansions of Medicaid and employer-based coverage, the law is estimated to provide 32 million more people with coverage by 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The case is Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, 10-cv- 00188, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Richmond).
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