10/9/2011
by Varnum’s Battery Law Industry Group
In an effort to encourage manufacturing and new jobs, a package of bills is being proposed in the Michigan legislature to provide tax credits for advanced battery manufacturers, tax credits for consumers of Michigan-made electric vehicles, and incentives for the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The legislation is backed by the Built by Michigan coalition which is also seeking conversion of federal electric vehicle tax credit into a direct rebate, state fleet vehicle purchases of electric vehicles, and federal clean fuel standards that require electric and other alternatively fueled vehicles. Michigan has more than 35 advanced battery companies nad suppliers for battery systems and electric vehicles, the most of any state. State Representative Marcia Hovey-Wright, one of the sponsors, has stated “Michigan leads the country in advanced auto technology jobs, and we must keep that title ours.” “These policy proposals are on the right track and are a good starting point for further discussion and legislative action, which we hope comes soon,” said Charles Griffith of the Ecology Center. “Electric vehicles and advanced batteries are emerging as potential game-changers for the entire auto industry, with Michigan at the center.”
10/1/2009
by Bruce Goodman
A road map for the development of offshore wind energy resources in the Great Lakes was handed to Governor Granholm by the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council in early September. The report finds that 20% of the state owned bottomlands in the lakes has a depth of 30 meters or less, which makes it practicable for offshore wind farms. Among its recommendations, the report suggests a 6-mile buffer zone from ordinary shorelines and a 13-mile buffer from national park shorelines, as well as listing other unsuitable development areas. It recommends that the state consider financial incentives for developers, such as tax incentives, grants, pricing, cost recovery guarantees, and favorable bottomlands lease rates. The report identifies “lessons learned” from experiences in other countries, and recommends that the Council’s life be extended through September 1, 2010 to continue its work. That recommendation has been accepted and future meetings have been scheduled.
9/3/2009
by Bruce Goodman
For some time there has been a cry for a comprehensive national energy policy. Reliance on the free market to drive energy outcomes has led to a place the country does not want to be. Clean power technology development has been left to others, principally Europe. Oil imports to feed the nation’s transportation needs have driven foreign policy decisions and created economic insecurity. Foreign automobile makers are ahead on energy efficiency and energy technology. Climate change appears to be upon us whether we are ready or not. The popular answers to these challenges are aimed at new and different price signals to the marketplace—gasoline tax, carbon tax, cap and trade, cash for clunkers, tax incentives, tax credits, tax rebates, grants, feed in tariffs–and some thought it difficult to solve an algebraic problem with only three variables. Can there be a single “energy policy”?
Tags:
cap and trade,
carbon tax,
cash for clunkers,
clean power technology,
energy efficiency,
energy policy,
feed in tariff.,
gasoline tax,
grants,
Michigan energy,
oil import,
tax credits,
tax incentives,
tax rebates
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