Subject: Renewable grants poised for extension - Patrick Reis and Darren Goode - POLITICO.com
From: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Lorenzo Roccia" <[email-masked]>, "Michael Muldoon" <[email-masked]>, "Devon Archer" <[email-masked]>, "Joan Peugh" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 17:09:09 -0500

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46205.html

Renewable grants poised for extension

Senators and the White House have apparently agreed on a one-year extension of a key renewable energy grant program, according to key Democratic senators.

Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said the program that gives cash grants to renewable developers will make it.

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The actual draft language should be made available Thursday evening. The lack of paper has caused some nervousness on the Hill among renewable energy backers. Wednesday, 81 House Democrats sent a letter asked their leaders to include a two year extension of the grant program, which was originally part of the 2009 stimulus bill and is set to expire at year’s end.

The letter implies that many members of the coalition will vote against the deal unless the extension is included, said Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey, who is leading the bloc along with Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Mike Thompson of California.

Holt and Blumenauer said the White House has left the door open to extending the program as the administration moves to secure enough votes to pass its deal with Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts.

“There is discussion in the White House now about this now, which is a little bit surprising because most people thought that negotiations were closed,” said Holt. “A number of us thought that the long term deal was harmful, so the fact that it is under discussion in any respect is good. The fact that it's under discussion with respect to the so-called 'green jobs' is especially interesting.”

The lawmakers took their message to Vice President Joe Biden this week and say they are hopeful the White House will play ball.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who is trying to extend the grants to public utilities, also said he was confident that the program would be included in the Senate version of the tax bill.

But extending the program may rock the boat in the House. No Republicans have signed onto the coalition’s letter and Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Tom Latham (R-Iowa) said today that they would rather see the deal go forward without any additions that would add to the deficit.

Renewable energy advocates were on the Hill today pleading their case. Any additions to the deficit would be offset by economic growth, said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association.

“We have 15,000 people about to be laid off,” Bode said. “We’ve never had as much at risk.”

Eric D. Schwerin
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