Daily Clips: December 14th, 2015
Congress could renew solar & wind tax credits: The renewable energy sector may be getting a wonderful present this holiday season. Congressional Democrats may be open to lifting the US crude oil export ban in exchange for long-term extensions of the wind and solar tax credits. These tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2016 and so renewing them would provide a greater sense of stability to the renewable energy sector.
Environmentalists will most likely not celebrate this development, however this agreement could “actually be a huge boost to the renewable industry in 2017 and beyond, and thus actually help continue accelerating the switch to renewables long term.”
Hillary Clinton is whitewashing the financial catastrophe: So says William Greider at The Nation, who was not impressed by Clinton’s recent op-ed about “reining in Wall Street.”
Clinton’s brisk recital of plausible reform ideas might convince wishful thinkers who are not familiar with the complexities of banking. But informed skeptics, myself included, see a disturbing message in her argument that ought to alarm innocent supporters.
Those are some strong words. Greider believes Clinton’s op-ed also from Wall Street’s most powerful institutions, like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, and instead fingers less celebrated players that failed.” He contends that she did this in order to reassure her allies on Wall Street that “she will not come after them.”
Americans see terrorism as the number one issue: Remember when the 2016 election was going to be about the economy? Yeah, those were the days. Turns out, you can’t run a very effective campaign when oil is under $40 a barrel and unemployment is at 5%.
On Sandy Hook anniversary, US activists call for gun restrictions: Today marks the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre, and yet our gun laws still remain stubbornly weak and feckless. What an exceptional country we are.
