Cory Heidelberger is agreeing with legislation sponsored by Joel Dykstra:
There's still no way I'm voting for an Oral Roberts University graduate for Senate, and I remain suspicious of anyone who has made a living working for Big Oil, but I will give Representative Joal Dykstra (R-16/Canton) props on energy policy. Sure, he's primary sponsor of the silly and toothless House Bill 1123, but he's also prime sponsor of HB 1184, "An act to create a renewable energy property tax incentive program." HB 1184 would give a 50% property tax refund to anyone who builds a new facility that generates electricity from wind, solar, hydroelectric, hydrogen, biomass, geothermal, or "recycled energy" from "currently unused waste heat." The refund is limited to ten years and may not exceed the cost of building the facility.
Not a bad idea -- energy self-sufficiency is a vital goal worth sacrificing some tax revenue for. My only quibble is that, if I'm reading the bill correctly, the incentive excludes small scale projects that don't produce power for sale on the bulk transmission grid. Big wind farms and renewable power plants are good, but small operators who just want to invest in a wind turbine or a couple solar panels should get a similar incentive as well. Everyone, large or small, who does her part to produce her own power and take the burden off the common grid deserves a piece of the tax incentive pie.
Why not give us all a 50% property tax break? Why give it to only a few (are many will already be wealthy business people)? This is government interference into free markets. The result is that less efficient business will be allowed to exist at the expense of tax payers. That results in a higher cost of living for society. If renewable energy is really worthwhile, then the market place will provide for its existence. This is just another example of the plutocracy of public-private partnerships. We so badly need the resolve to bring back limited government.
