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Solar Industry Says End Fossil Fuel Subsidies And Expect A Solar Boom


12.29.09

by Daniel Kessler

Read More: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009...en-percent.php

A report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) found that power from the sun could generate 15 percent of America's power in the next decade, but only if Washington levels the playing field on subsidies. The fossil fuel industry, led by oil and coal, received $72 billion in total federal subsidies from 2002 to 2008, but earlier this year President Obama called for those subsidies to end.

- Additionally, the amount of solar energy could jump from today's 1,500 MW to 350,000 MW by 2020. A new grid would be needed to distribute the additional energy, and a global deal among the G20 countries to phase out dirty energy subsidies would have to actually happen.