NABCEP [RE-wrenches]

[matthew tritt]

Joel & Jeff,

When my Alt. Energy shop was in Santa Ynez Valley, from 82 through 84, one
of Ronnie's aids called to see about putting a wind turbine up at Rancho
Cielo, the "Western Whitehouse". Pretty funny, considering how hard they
were working to eliminate our tax credits! I told him that we'd be happy to
do a site analysis (including a wind study) for X dollars and 12 months wind
monitoring, at which point he must have figured I was a spy for the Evil
Empire. Or, my mentioning that I had done a 15 kW turbine for Jane and Tom
Hayden might have had something to do with it. Do you suppose? :-)

You would be amazed, however, at how many Republicans there were scrambling
to sign-up for wind turbine ownership during that period. They wanted those
turbines up every bit as much as us wacko enviro-Nazis did, just for a
different reason.

Matt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Davidson" <joeldavidson at earthlink.net>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 9:25 AM
Subject: Re: NABCEP [RE-wrenches]


> Jeff,
>
> Right on. A bad day PVing is better than the best day fossil fueling.
>
> It wasn't bad solar water heaters or inflated prices that killed the 40%
federal
> tax credit (circa 1978 to 1985). It was the Republicans with actor Ronald
Regan
> as their front man. It took them 5 years to do kill the credit, but they
are
> persistent little buggers. So keep your bug spray handy for 2003.
>
> Happy holidays
>
> "Jeffery Wolfe, Global Resource Options" wrote:
>
> > Matt,
> >
> > I suppose that might be true, although the waiting could be 'til I'm
dead,
> > or well warmed...
> >
> > I guess my biggest problem with NABCEP, and all the yelling about "bad
> > installs will ruin us" is that we're competing, really against something
> > that WILL ruin us, (fossil fuels), yet we're spending all our time
focusing
> > inward.
> >
> > I just believe that if we focused outward, and took on the cultural
> > establishment outside PV, and made the case that even a "bad" PV install
was
> > better than burning a gallon of oil, that we'd be going in the right
> > direction.
> >
> > Yes, we need to make sure we're not burning down houses. And really,
seems
> > the track record on that is pretty darn good. Probably better than the
track
> > record of torchiere lamps on that score.
> >
> > We in the RE business seem to always get caught needing to play by
different
> > rules than the dirty industries. Everyone is comparing NABCEP to ASE
> > mechanics. Do states require that all state vehicle work be done using
ASE
> > mechanics? Is anyone legislating that if an ASE mechanic does not do the
> > work on your car, then you are more personally liable for anything that
goes
> > wrong? (I know that NABCEP doesn't "want" states to require NABCEP for
> > anything, but that train seems to be pretty clearly on the tracks. Has
> > NABCEP told NYSERDA not to go that way? Seems that a letter from the
NABCEP
> > board would go a lot further than a letter from me.)
> >
> > No, we can't beat the oil companies at their game. But we can realize
the
> > rules that they are drawing up for us, and we can play by rules that WE
> > want. Yes we want to do a good job. But let's not get so wrapped up in
> > trying to make sure that EVERYONE does a good job, that the number of
jobs
> > is small.
> >
> > IMHO, bad jobs did not kill the SDHW industry. The loss of credits did.
IMHO
> > the bad jobs did not convince legislators to get rid of the credits. It
was
> > an excuse. IMHO, if the party in power wants to get rid of credits, they
> > will find a way! Whether we "give" them an excuse or not. So rather than
> > saying to all the legislators, "We'll make this stuff so that there will
be
> > NO "bad" installs", we need to say to them "This stuff is absolutely
VITAL
> > to our economy/environment/security (take your pick). Eliminate funding
AT
> > YOUR PERIL."
> >
> > (This is similar to what we've been seeing in VT. One year there can be
no
> > credits because the price of oil and electric is too high...The next
year
> > the price of oil drops, but the budget is tight...the next year there is
a
> > "misunderstanding" by IBM and they kill the legislation. And not a
single
> > "bad" install on anyone's radar screens in VT. (Not saying there aren't
any,
> > just none with press.)
> >
> > It's not necessarily the "right" way to approach it, but it is the
> > "American" way....
> >
> > Jeff Wolfe
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Matt Lafferty [mailto:pvpro at attbi.com]
> > Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 10:20 PM
> > To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> > Subject: Re: NABCEP [RE-wrenches]
> >
> > Jeff:
> >
> > You asked:
> >
> > >What am I doing wrong that I need to work so hard to make a buck? (And
I'm
> > not even competing against any fly-by->night operations that I know of.
> >
> > Just wait until Vermont gets rebates.  Then you'll have plenty of both;
> > bucks and fly-by-nights.
> >
> > Unless the rest of the states screw it up first......
> >
> > -Matt Lafferty
> > pvpro at attbi.com
> >
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