President Obama: “It’s not just oil and natural gas production that’s booming; we’re becoming a global leader in solar too. Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar; every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can’t be outsourced. Let’s continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don’t need it, so that we can invest more in fuels of the future that do. Taken together, our energy policy is creating jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet. Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth. But we have to act with more urgency – because a changing climate is already harming western communities struggling with drought, and coastal cities dealing with floods. That’s why I directed my administration to work with states, utilities, and others to set new
standards on the amount of carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air. The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children’s children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did. “
A powerful quote from his speech, indeed, but we need to do more and stay the course. In 2013, we lost the 50 percent bonus depreciation in year one for businesses. And if the course is not turned, we will lose one of the biggest incentives out there for renewable energy in 2016. The ITC 30 percent credit for residential and commercial businesses is a direct credit against your federal taxes, dollar for dollar, 30 percent on the contractual value of your system. We as an industry will be holding the president to his word. We do need smarter tax policies and smarter policies in general to support this industry that will leave a cleaner greener world for many generations to come. And I believe that teaching our children how to reduce their carbon footprint by installing these systems is the first step towards independence. They are the leaders of tomorrow