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A recent letter in the Oregonian about Oregon's Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) asked, "Where's my subsidy?"  

 

The answer is your subsidy is everywhere. Every form of energy we use is heavily subsidized. The tax subsidies, accounting loopholes and public policy support for electricity, natural gas, coal and oil are massive and deeply entrenched.  Without the existing subsidies our energy bills would be much greater than they are now. 

 

As a society we must choose how to spend our scarce resources. In the energy economy, we can decide to transition from fossil and nuclear sources to an economy built on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. It's a choice that makes sense for many reasons -- jobs, local economic development, energy supply reliability, energy price stability, environmental protection, national and regional security, peace.

 

Here in the Northwest we have an abundance of renewable energy resources and the capacity and experience to greatly improve energy efficiency.  The BETC program helped to build that capacity over its decades long history, with bipartisan support every step of the way.  While revisions may be warranted, lets keep what works well and only fix what needs to be fixed.

 

 

 

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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