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Return To Alternative Energy Article Archive   The Budget and Alternative Energy By Mike Motley If you haven't heard already, The President's new budget just came out (02/07/08) and it couldn't be more unfriendly towards the environment in general unless they go that extra mile and put in special tax breaks on the purchase of clubs for the express purpose of baby seal hunting. While there there are many points to the '09 budget that are great, if you are really interested in an all out nuclear conflict, for the most part, the alternative energy sectors, primarily wind and solar get a big kick in the nards from the administration because of the elimination of the government's incentives for the addition of solar power. Oh and here's the best part...the reason. These incentives were removed because the package that was offered for the proposed incentives was funded by taxation on big oil, and many senators thought that these taxes were too harsh, even though the big oil companies have been reporting insane profits lately. The explanation given was that we would ultimately end up paying for this at the pump. Just for those that didn't get that: The government is saying that they just cut funding offered to put solar/wind on your home for power, something that helps our country get away from foreign oil, helps the planet, cuts pollution..etc..etc, so that gas prices won't go up. Also, while renewable energy took a beating, nuclear energy got a boost in the form of funding for loans to build new nuclear plants, and funding for nuclear weapons. Yes, we apparently do not need to create new energy sources or keep our water and air clean because we really don't want to make the oil companies mad, and we need new nuclear missiles. God I love this country. If you want to take a look at this big steaming pile of a budget, just go here: Budget Environmental News Service has a pretty good article here I'm not really a politically motivated individual on this topic, nor am I a Birkenstock wearing vegan that has a composting toilet and hordes all my trash in the basement to reduce my environmental impact. What I am, is an individual that believes the world in general would probably be better off if the use of fossil fuels and specifically the dependence on oil from the middle east, or anywhere else were greatly reduced, if not completely eliminated. To me, The President's budget shows a complete disinterest in long term reduction of dependence on oil, and more of an interest in updating our offensive capabilities in the event of a conflict, most likely in response to Iraq's nuclear build-up. In my opinion, this is a catch-22 situation. One is connected to the other, and if it weren't for the need for oil, the ultimate reason, perceived or not for the nuclear buildup wouldn't be present. Ok, let me put my political soapbox away. Fortunately, there is quite a bit of momentum going and interest generated that people and governments around the world are starting to see that a change must be made, and the tools for that change are available. What is really great is the amount of clever innovations and applications that the average individual comes up with. The prices for solar and wind powered equipment have been coming down, and continue to drop. This is excellent for new product R&D in the renewable energy fields, and there is a lot that the average individual is coming up with. While surfing around I have come across a couple really good videos for DIY power generation. I've also acquired quite a bit of research that I've been doing on my own that other's may want or like as well. Much of this is information that is free, can be found pretty easily and demonstrates how easily alternative power sources can be created by the average person. It's my thought that hopefully the more people see that building/using renewables, especially solar is easy, affordable and the smart thing to do, maybe the more they will see they can probably do it themselves. M. Motley is an avid Alternative Energy hobbyist, specializing in solar power. http://www.solarpower-home.com keywords: solar power | alternative energy | power | budget Geothermal Energy Facts

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