The National Wildlife Federation is sharing with lawmakers a tax credit proposal to help bring cleaner electricity to parts of the country that are currently powering with coal and natural gas.
Why it matters: With a divided government likely, any climate and energy policy is probably going to come in the form of relatively narrow spending proposals like this.
Driving the news: The proposal would give varying levels of tax credits to utilities depending how high carbon emissions are in the state's electricity, according to Shannon Heyck-Williams, the group's climate and energy policy director. The higher the emissions, the bigger the subsidy offered to generate cleaner electricity.
How it works: States whose electricity grids already have a lot of cleaner electricity, like California and Washington State, would get a 10% tax credit. States with electricity heavily powered by coal and natural gas, such as many in the Midwest, could get up to a 45% tax credit.
- If a new electricity plant emits less carbon dioxide than an average natural-gas plant, “then it qualifies for the tax credit,” says Heyck-Williams.
- The proposal is similar to a bill sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), except with the additional layer that adjusts the tax credit level depending on how high emissions are in a state's electricity mix.
What they’re saying: The proposal could have bipartisan support.
- Heyck-Williams says her initial conversations with congressional Republican offices have been positive and that conservatives prefer technology-neutral subsidies over tech-specific kinds.
- Julian Brave NoiseCat, vice president of policy and strategy at the liberal Data for Progress, says he is “particularly interested” in this type of policy given the political limits of a (probable) Republican-controlled Senate.
- “That’s probably the upper limits of our ambition, which pains me to say,” said NoiseCat, in a nod to his and other progressives’ preferences for more sweeping proposals like the Green New Deal.
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