......Key features of the New Apollo Energy Act

Introduced last year, the 'Apollo' energy proposal would
offer rational solutions that would increase our national security
while helping keep oil prices down and create jobs.
All this while also helping the environment.

In three years or so, when the democrats return to power, we
have a real chance of this kind of rational and responsible legislation
becoming a reality. Three months of financing the war in Iraq
would have paid for this legislation.



Notice that nowhere in this legislation is Nasa even mentioned.
Congratulations Nasa, you have become entirely irrelevent
to the nations needs and problems.


The New Apollo Energy Project
9 June 2005
A Comprehensive Clean Energy Plan to Address Jobs, National Security
and Climate Change
http://www.house.gov/inslee/issues/e...nergy_act.html


:Clean Energy: New Apollo provides $49 billion in government loan guarantees
for the construction of clean-energy generation facilities that will produce
power from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, oceans, coal with
carbon-sequestration technology, and other sources. The legislation also
commits $10.5 billion to research-and-development and investment tax credits
for clean energy-producing operations. In addition, it includes a 10-year
extension of the current tax credit for electricity generated from clean
sources.

Oil Savings: The boosts for clean energy and efficiency will make it
possible to meet New Apollo's call for notable reductions in daily domestic
oil consumption -- cuts of 600,000 barrels a day by 2010, 1,700,000 barrels
by 2015, and 3,000,000 barrels by 2020. These numbers are estimates of the
amount of oil the United States would soon be importing daily from Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, and the entire Middle East, respectively, without a change in
current policy.

Fuel Efficiency: The best way to generate energy is to not waste it, so New
Apollo includes incentives for American consumers to drive fuel-efficient
vehicles, including tax credits for the purchase of hybrid,
alternative-fuel, low-emission advanced diesel, and fuel-cell vehicles. It
also provides $11.5 billion in tax credits for the automotive and aerospace
industries to develop new fuel efficient automobiles and planes, retool
existing plants, and construct new plants to manufacture energy efficient
vehicles.

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: New Apollo enacts a
proposal similar to the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act by capping
our emissions of greenhouse gases while allowing companies to purchase and
trade credits among themselves to ensure the most cost-effective reductions,
and
funding research to help industries make the shift to cleaner operations.
The bill targets one of the biggest greenhouse-gas offenders -- coal -- by
providing $7 billion in loan guarantees for the development of clean coal
power plants.

Clean Energy Jobs: New Apollo will close the existing technology gap with
foreign competitors by investing billions of dollars in new federal research
into advanced clean technologies, and creating a government-funded risk
pool to help struggling start-up clean-energy companies commercialize their
products. One study by the Apollo Alliance has found that a substantial
federal commitment to clean energy could yield up to 3.3 million jobs
nationally.

Renewable Portfolio: New Apollo contains a Renewable Portfolio Standard
requiring all utilities, by 2021, to produce 10 percent of their electricity
from renewable energy sources. There is a cost cap set at 3 cents per
kilowatt hour for utilities that purchase renewable energy credits required
to meet the standard. Revenue from the cost cap is used to fund grants for
the construction of renewable electricity generation facilities in states
lacking renewable resources.

Energy Transmission: New Apollo creates national net-metering and
interconnection standards that allow homeowners who generate clean energy
to reduce their energy bills by feeding surplus electricity back into the
grid.
New Apollo additionally increases regulatory oversight of energy trading
markets, which was a problem during Enron's manipulation of the West Coast
energy crisis.

Does Not Increase the Deficit: New Apollo is revenue neutral, and pays for
its provisions by closing abusive corporate tax shelters and loopholes, and
through auctioning off some of the allowances under the carbon dioxide
trading program.

Other significant features in New Apollo:

Reducing Petroleum Dependence:

An alternative fuel vehicle purchase requirement for government agencies.
Tax credits for the installation of alternative refueling properties.
Tax credits for the retail sale of alternative fuels.
A renewable fuels standard set at 8 billion gallons by 2013.
Modification of the tax credit for qualified electric vehicles.
Loans for schools to buy high-efficiency vehicles.
Ethanol-blended gasoline and bio-diesel government agency purchase
requirements.

Clean Energy Economy:

Federal support for the commercialization of carbon sequestration, coal
gasification, and low emission coal technologies.
Requirement for new federal buildings to be constructed using the Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design's (LEED) silver standard for energy
efficiency.

Tax credits for the installation of minimum emission coal technologies.
An order for the Secretary of Energy to create a credit for the creation of
new electricity transmission lines to receive power from remote clean
resources.

Tax credits for energy efficient recycling and remanufacturing units.
Requirement that the Secretary of Interior standardize right-of-way
requirements for wind projects.
Requirement that government agencies reduce energy consumption and
use clean energy.

Permanent extension of the Energy Savings Performance Contracts.
Tradable renewable resource credits for public utilities.
Establishment of a new energy commission to certify new technologies that
qualify for credits under New Apollo.
Tax credits for distributed energy generation and demand management
property in residences and businesses.
Tax credits for fly-wheel properties.

Jobs:

$36 billion in new federal research authorizations for advanced clean
technologies, fusion power, and technologies focusing on existing energy
sources.
Federal support for the commercialization of clean technologies.
Improved coordination of technology transfer activities.
Establishment of a clean energy technology export program.
Renewable energy lending requirements for the Export-Import Bank.
Grants to improve mass transit programs.
Grants for sewer and water energy improvements.
Tax credits for the construction of energy efficient homes and commercial
properties.

Consumer Protections:

Funding for LIHEAP and weatherization projects.
Implementing energy efficiency standards for certain appliances, and
provides tax credits for the production of energy efficient appliances.
Establishing a national energy efficient home mortgage association.
Requiring the President to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Requiring the Secretary of Energy to issue Energy Star regulations for solar
water heating devic

"jonathan" wrote in message
.. .

Notice that nowhere in this legislation is Nasa even mentioned.
Congratulations Nasa, you have become entirely irrelevent
to the nations needs and problems.

The old Apollo established that the moon was a substantial source of silicon
and aluminum. It's a shame that the new Apollo couldn't include SPS made in
space from those materials.

--


Regards,
Mike Combs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth
I bid you stand, Men of the West!
Aragorn

"Mike Combs" wrote in message
...
"jonathan" wrote in message
.. .

Notice that nowhere in this legislation is Nasa even mentioned.
Congratulations Nasa, you have become entirely irrelevent
to the nations needs and problems.

The old Apollo established that the moon was a substantial source of
silicon
and aluminum. It's a shame that the new Apollo couldn't include SPS made
in
space from those materials.


That is a shame, since some of the SPS proposals I've heard
include the Moon as a possible platform. Right now going to
the Moon is for the purpose of allowing a Mars mission.
But Mars is so far off, and more wish than a plan, that
going to the Moon seem purposeless. Or a pipe-dream.
It's hard to justify the expense and time for some vague
and unlikely event in the distant future.

The purpose for going to the Moon needs to attract those
not already sold on anything Nasa does. Making Nasa
relevent to the big issues of the day could have a huge
impact of budgets and continuity.

My criticism of Nasa is because I feel it's squandering a once
in a millenia opportunity to change the world and our future.
If the public really got behind a Nasa goal that would
effect the two big issues today, energy and global
warming, who knows how big the budget could become.



s



--


Regards,
Mike Combs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth
I bid you stand, Men of the West!
Aragorn

"Cranny Dane" wrote in message
...

"jonathan" wrote in message
.. .

Introduced last year, the 'Apollo' energy proposal would
offer rational solutions that would increase our national security
while helping keep oil prices down and create jobs.
All this while also helping the environment.

In three years or so, when the democrats return to power, we
have a real chance of this kind of rational and responsible legislation
becoming a reality. Three months of financing the war in Iraq
would have paid for this legislation.



Problem is it will put big companies out of profits.

How is any politician going to vote for that ?


I think the internet is going to change things. Before
long the politicians will be raising more money from
the internet than business. And that's when they'll start
caring more for what the people want.

"jonathan" wrote in message
...

That is a shame, since some of the SPS proposals I've heard
include the Moon as a possible platform.

I don't favor that as highly as I do GEO SPS from space resources, since I
question the wisdom of putting a solar power plant in a place which is dark
half the time. LPS would certainly have lower lift costs than
Earth-launched GEO SPS, but GEO has operational advantages. But if High
Frontier is right, and lunar resources can be lofted to L-2 economically,
then we can have the best of both worlds.

Right now going to
the Moon is for the purpose of allowing a Mars mission.
But Mars is so far off, and more wish than a plan, that
going to the Moon seem purposeless. Or a pipe-dream.
It's hard to justify the expense and time for some vague
and unlikely event in the distant future.

Agreement.

The purpose for going to the Moon needs to attract those
not already sold on anything Nasa does. Making Nasa
relevent to the big issues of the day could have a huge
impact of budgets and continuity.

I agree. The problem is that right now, manned space travel is 95% about
science, and 5% about business. If that ratio were to be reversed, people
who didn't give a flip for space science might nonetheless become space
enthusiasts.


--


Regards,
Mike Combs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth
I bid you stand, Men of the West!
Aragorn

"Mike Combs" wrote in message
...
"jonathan" wrote in message
.. .

Notice that nowhere in this legislation is Nasa even mentioned.
Congratulations Nasa, you have become entirely irrelevent
to the nations needs and problems.

The old Apollo established that the moon was a substantial source of
silicon
and aluminum. It's a shame that the new Apollo couldn't include SPS made
in
space from those materials.

It's also a shame that it can't be fueled with recycled phone books. How
much does it take to make a SPS, no, how about any satellite. Do you really
think we are up to the infrastructure required to build satellites in space?
In order to be cost effective, the factories would predominantly have to be
built in space as well, otherwise whatever you save on satellite launches
gets eaten up thousand-fold in launching the satellite. And silicon and
alumninum are hardly rare on earth.