Renewable Energy in Wall Street Bailout

With all the mixed emotions over the Wall Street Bailout, at least there was something in the $800 billion plan we can all feel good about.

Included in the bailout was an eight year extension of the solar energy tax credits. These credits will offer 30% credit to both commercial and residential solar panel purchases. This huge investment in the spread of solar technology will encourage the private market to develop and install millions of solar panels nationwide.

The United States was once the leader in solar panel development but the decision to stop funding government solar panel research during Reagan's administration allowed European nations to move ahead of us and build a huge solar industry. With this new extension of the solar panel tax credit, not only can be expand our renewable energy usage here, but we can begin exporting solar energy products to other countries and regain the competitive advantage in this growing industry.

Some of the specific provisions for solar energy in the bailout include lifting the cap of $2,000 for residential solar installations as an incentive for homeowners to install more panels on their property, a credit for utility companies so they can switch from coal power to renewable power for customers and support for the creation of 400,000 green jobs.

While the federal government was busy fixing past mistakes, they were ensuring a cleaner and mores stable future. Read more HERE.