Business and Labor: Create Clean Energy Markets

This morning's "Policies and Partnerships for a Clean Power Future" session found wide agreement from union officials and business leaders on how we should reform our energy policies.

Todd Foley of BP Solar [1] and Jim Gordon of Cape Wind [2] both lamented the "start and stop" nature of our government's involvement in promoting renewable energy.

Gordon advocated long-term policies, including tax incentives for production and power-purchasing agreements with utilities, while IBEW Local 103's Marty Aikens [3] supported residential tax credits .

Lee Smith of the National Photovoltaic Construction Partnership [4] pushed for state and local governments to create more demand by purchasing clean energy from domestic manufacturers. Foley concurred that if smart policies create domestic markets, home-grown manufacturing will make good business sense.