Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Carbon Credits Could be Viable Lobbying Option in Washington

An Electrification Coalition report says that public policies need to come out of Washington to boost fleet purchases of electric vehicles. Recommended public policies include tax credits for light-duty PHEVs and EVs deployed in fleets as well as for medium- and heavy-duty PHEVs and EVs, clean renewable energy bonds for infrastructure, guarantee of residual value for the first generation of lithium-ion batteries, and federal fleet electrification including the Postal Service.

What about carbon credits? The climate change policy is probably dead in Congress now that Republicans are taking the House majority and committee positions are changing. However, there are those who think carbon credits might be a way to make all of this work. Carbon credits are a component of national and international attempts to mitigate the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases. Certainly this issue is much bigger than specific policies encouraging fleets to bring in more EVs, but it does speak to the larger arena of policies going through Washington affecting renewable energy and alternative technology, all part of making fleets greener. And perhaps the clean renewable energy bonds will incorporate carbon credits.

No comments: