By James Murray, Source: BusinessGreen

Green businesses across the US will be keeping a close eye on this evening’s State of the Union address, with President Obama widely tipped to provide further detail on his plans to deliver a second term wave of climate change and green growth policies.

Green groups are expecting Obama to use the annual speech to Congress to flesh out commitments made in both his victory speech and inauguration speech that suggested action on climate change would play a more central role during his second term.

Speaking in his inauguration address last month, Obama declared the US “would respond to the threat of climate change” and offered short shrift to critics of his green agenda, arguing that “some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact”.

The White House has indicated that it has no intention of delivering over-arching climate legislation as long as Republicans continue to control the House of Representatives, but sources have confirmed the Obama team has been thinking at length about how to use executive powers and the President’s “bully pulpit” to accelerate action on climate change.

Specifically, green campaigners are hoping Obama will use the Environmental Protection Agency to impose tight new emission standards on existing coal-fired power stations to go aside the standards already introduced for new power plants and the auto industry.

There has also been widespread speculation that Obama could introduce more demanding green procurement standards for federal agencies and the military in order to help accelerate the development of renewable energy systems, low emission vehicles, and energy efficiency improvements. Meanwhile, the renewables sector is hoping Obama could announce plans to open up more federal land for clean energy development.

Green businesses, NGOs, and a number of Democrats are calling on the White House to make action on climate change a central part of the administration’s agenda by pushing a “green growth” narrative that would demonstrate how clean technologies can aid the US recovery.

Advocates of this approach were given further cause for optimism last week when the US Department of Energy and the Treasury announced they were making $150m of new Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits available to firms producing clean energy and energy efficient technologies.

“Since 2009, the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit program has supported innovative American manufacturers that boost our nation’s competitiveness in the global race for clean energy,” said out-going Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a statement. “These new investments will continue that momentum, supporting the President’s commitment to American-made energy, increasing energy security, and creating jobs.”

Acting Secretary of the Treasury Neal S. Wolin added that the incentives were part of a wider strategy to stimulate green growth.

“As the economy continues to heal, the President has been clear that we have to do everything we can to boost growth and job creation today and build a more sustainable foundation for tomorrow,” he said in a statement. “Manufacturing the clean energy products of the future in America will create good, middle-class jobs right now and help lay the groundwork for the long-term resilience of our economy.”

The $150m new tax credits have been issued after previous recipients of the administration’s first wave of $2.3bn worth of Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit failed to make use of all of their allowance.

The Department of Energy said the 30 per cent investment tax credits had supported a wide range of investments in domestic manufacturing facilities and had helped the US more than double its renewable energy capacity over the past four years.

Officials added that the new wave of credits would be awarded on a competitive basis and as such they are now inviting applications for support that will be judged based on the project’s commercial viability, domestic job creation, technological innovation, speed to project completion, and potential for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

In related news, the House of Representatives is today expected to pass a bi-partisan bill that would make it easier for developers to build small-scale hydropower projects, removing some of the barriers to development and paving the way for a more streamlined permitting process.