As we watch Europe’s financial system teeter on the brink, many are preparing for the US’s own unwelcomed, but necessary austerity effort. Yet with yesterday’s deadlock by the Super Committee, we’re all left wondering if our elected leaders have been watching too much ESPN, detailing the NBA’s own failure to come to an agreement, after over two years of negotiations.
With this latest partisan gridlock in the face of a financial storm, its a fait accompli that we will see a December 31st expiration of the Section 1603 cleantech cash grant incentives. Solyndra alone has put cleantech supporting Democrats on their heels and become a “reckless government spending” lapel button on Republican sport coats. Rightly or not, large bookable losses from the DOE’s attempt to stimulate jobs make it harder for politicians to put Section 1603 in a cleantech jobs creation wrapper.
Which means the cleantech markets will need to rely only on tax credits, as opposed to grants, in order to weather the looming US austerity period, whenever our politicians decide its important enough to address.