Renewable Green Energy Law

Law is politics fixed over time. That is why laws get changed frequently whenever there is a change in political leadership. The renewable green energy law is no exception. Finding solutions to our growing energy crisis has become a top political issue. To deal with this crisis the government has issued the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was passed on July 25 2005. This bill was a turning point for the US Energy Policy and is considered the key piece of renewable energy legislation. Following this bill the government is now providing tax incentives and loan guarantees to help in the search and development of alternative energy sources.

The 2005 cornerstone policy included a production tax credit (PTC) for domestic wind power technologies. Anybody who invested in this technology was entitled to a 1.9 cent per kilowatt/hour deduction for a period of 10 years. This had a profound effect on the wind industry in the United States. The wind industry here in the United States is now actually growing faster than in any other developed country. Another renewable green energy law with more incentives like this one is needed to help develop the renewable energy economy.

In addition to speeding up the process of wind energy development the Energy Policy Act of 2005 also addressed the issue of geothermal power. Geothermal energy is today seen as a viable source of renewable energy. Increased funding and support from numerous different federal agencies is now available for research and development of this technology.

In 2007 different pieces of new energy legislation were discussed but no new renewable green energy law was passed.

However, the pressure is on for congress and since then additional energy bills have already been passed. It is now official policy that the Department of Energy should spend a minimum of $95m annually in research and development into geothermal energy every year.

The renewable green energy law of 2005 also addressed marine energy. Marine energy refers to the conversion of the power of the waves and the tides into electricity. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 made it mandatory for the Department of Energy to include marine energy in its' pool of alternative energy sources. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) then started investigating the development of projects involving wave and tidal technology. Numerous projects have already been started in the United States. The biggest and best known ones are in New York, Rhode Island, San Francisco Bay and Washington State.

One of the biggest advantages of renewable green energy law such as the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is that it puts pressure on congress to get more actively involved with the development of alternative energy sources. The work that has been done since the bill was passed has been tremendous and today more and more people are becoming aware of the problem and willing and interested to do their part in finding a solution.

By: H. Fischer

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