U.S. Gov’t. Still Supports Clean and Renewable Energy Despite Trump’s Efforts to Derail Programs

At the annual World Economic Forum Meeting In Davos, Switzerland, the general consensus was the widespread support for the use of clean and renewable energy among businesses. It is seen not only as a means of solving the growing energy crisis but also in reducing carbon emissions aimed at addressing the effects of climate change.

Thankfully, the administrations of former U.S. presidents had introduced programs that incentivize the use of alternative sources of energy to replace fossil fuels. Currently however, incumbent U.S. president Donald Trump is opposed to such programs. He attended the Davos summit just to embarrass the country he represented. In his usual self-righteous and pompous manner, Trump branded climate activists as mere “prophets of doom.”

Back home and in the past, this POTUS had put forward proposals to bring down the government’s budget for incentives aimed at supporting the use of clean and renewable energy. However, Congress ignored such proposals, which despite Trump’s shameless thrashing of climate change movements, still technically allows the country to be one with the global effort to bring down carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Actually, there is a long list of government incentives for the use, development of technologies, as well as for the production of clean and renewable energy. Many states have passed laws that make it possible for their regions to achieve the goal of becoming 100% renewable energy users. The state of Vermont is hoping to achieve such goal by as much as 75% by the year 2032. The states of New York and California aims to be at least 50% renewable-energy dependent by the year 2030.

The existence of government incentivization programs for clean and renewable energy tend to vary. Mainly because there are American states being run by government leaders aligned with Trump’s goal of reviving the businesses of coal and other fossil fuel production.

Federal Tax Credits, the Most Important Government Incentives for Clean and Renewable Energy

A tax consultant will likely give his or her clients advice about the tax credits available to them for using clean and/or renewable energy, not only for their business but also for their household. Such tax credits must be taken advantage of, while they are still on the table, because many of them are slated to go down or to totally disappear by the year 2022.

Businesses, homeowners and utility developers can reimburse as much as 30 percent (30%) of the costs incurred in installing systems that produce solar, wind or hydrogen-fuel cell as energy. Reimbursement can be claimed by way of a federal tax credit that can be deducted from the amount of tax to be paid for the year.

Households who cannot afford to install their own solar or wind-powered systems, also benefit in terms of reduced utility costs. According to a report released by Lazard Limited, an asset management and financial advisory firm, the rapid development of solar and wind energy systems throughout the country, has brought down the cost of solar and wind produced electricity by 85% and 66%, respectively.