The news around us indicates that we are entering a time of transition and frugality while a stressed economy recovers. Meanwhile our country welcomes the message of change permeating the airwaves as we await the inauguration of a new president. With the upcoming leadership transition, there’s a palpable thread of hope, particularly as it relates to sustainable energy and the environment. We expect increased support at the top levels of management for green solutions to our energy problems. Along with our communities, CCSE is eagerly awaiting an increase in the resources needed to increase energy efficiency, reduce emissions and to adopt clean energy technologies.
President-elect Barack Obama shares CCSE’s vision of making clean, efficient and renewable energy a top priority. The “Obama-Biden New Energy Plan for America” stresses the importance of sustainability. Some of the plan’s initiatives include creating five million new green jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future. Another initiative lays out plans for putting one million hybrid cars on the road by 2015. CCSE’s statewide Fueling Alternatives Program (funded by the California Air Resources Board) has made it a lot easier for consumers to purchase alternative fuel vehicles like all-electric and compressed natural gas, to date granting more than 1.6 million dollars in rebates.
While we await the new presidential initiatives, jobs continue to be lost and many Americans in all sectors are out of work. Recognizing our community needs, CCSE remains at the forefront of change, providing education and outreach for energy savings and renewable energy generation practices, which help energy consumers save during lean times. Reducing energy costs is a top priority for many people in the New Year as they search for ways to stretch their budgets; CCSE is here to help.
On the plus side, the new incentives and tax credits for solar generation systems are making this more accessible for a wide range of energy users and property owners. As of the first of the year, the federal government raised its incentives by removing the existing $2,000 cap on the investment tax credit (ITC) for residential solar electric projects. Both residential and commercial projects now get the 30% ITC on the full system value. This equates to a reduction of an additional $7,000 or more off the initial system cost to the homeowner. The feds extended the solar ITC for an unprecedented eight years, and the municipal initiatives made possible by AB811 should spur the market.
With a challenging new year ahead, CCSE is looking forward to helping consumers, business and municipalities reduce their operating and lifestyle costs with conservation and energy efficiency strategies. For people to embrace change, we must understand not only how to change, but why it is important to change. With this in mind, there is more education from CCSE on the way in 2009 in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building, transportation and climate change. We are hopeful for community support in carrying out our mission and we are planning for a year of measurable impacts to this end. We look forward to working with you to promote change for a clean energy future.
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