Ritter asks Obama for renewable-energy funds

By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 12, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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The "new energy economy" that has provided a boost to Colorado could do the same for the rest of the country if the federal government puts money into it, Gov. Bill Ritter told President-elect Barack Obama in a letter.

Ritter asked Obama this week for help constructing $1.4 billion worth of transportation projects and paying for new natural gas pipelines and clean-coal technology development in Colorado.

But in the letter, he also requested a large increase in funding for renewable-energy projects, both here and across the United States.

Doing so could create jobs in the short term and increase the country's ability to compete globally, Ritter said.

Among the recommendations the governor offered:

* Launch a major infrastructure construction project akin to a "Renewable Energy Superhighway" that will guarantee access for all communities to renewable energy generation.

* Increase the federal weatherization budget to $1 billion. In addition, create a $10 billion program to retrofit inefficient buildings.

* Raise the energy-efficiency tax credit from 10 percent to as much as 50 percent and its cap from $500 to $2,500.

* Establish revolving loan funds to be administered by states to residents to install solar panels and accelerate replacement of inefficient vehicles in public and private fleets.

* Spend $1 billion to buy back high-polluting and nonfuel-efficient vehicles and establish local recycling facilities to decommission the cars.

* Revise federal law to allow local and state governments to offer incentives for renewable-energy improvements without sacrificing the federal tax credit for the same projects.

* Provide a seven-year federal tax moratorium on all new renewable-energy manufacturing facilities.

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