Senate Offering Increased Subsidies for Alternative Energy
June 24, 2005 -- The Eighth Annual Congressional Expo featured an array of alternative energy sources, many of them vying for a piece of the $11 billion in clean alternatives and conservation subsidies included in the Senate Energy bill (another $12 billion would go to the usual suspects--oil, coal, and gas, but also including $6 billion for the nuclear power industry).
Among the renewables are everything from the newest advances in wind generators to fuel cells, solar panels, biodiesel, ethanol, biomass, ocean wave generators, energy efficient lighting, appliances and housing, hybrid vehicles, geothermal energy, solar heating and hydropower. How much funding will finally emerge for all these forms of renewable energy is still uncertain. While the Senate bill may offer up to $5.5 billion in subsidies for alternative energy sources, the House bill only includes $500 million. The two will have to be reconciled in a House-Senate conference committee.