Friday, July 13, 2012

Another secret advantage for oil and gas drillers

Ok, this is ripped from thinkprogress.org, you can read the whole shmear if you go there, then click the green climate button, then scroll down.
This explains one more specialized instrument for oil companies and their investors, one I didn't know of.  Clean energy start ups cannot use this instrument, and there is resistance in altering the law to allow it.  Below explains an attempt at a fix, which is opposed by oil and gas.
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Let’s look at master limited partnership (MLPs) first. Used successfully for traditional oil and gas investments for decades, these vehicles, which trade like corporate stock, allow investors to earn dividends that usually fall in the six percent range. However, current MLP rules are structured to cover only oil and gas, and exclude clean-energy investments. Simple tax code changes could enable these investment structures to leverage the built-in annuity streams of clean energy, and could expand decent-yielding investment opportunities to a broader retail market. Some members of Congress seem to think so, and the idea is rapidly catching on with support from corporate and industry stakeholders. Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) has introduced the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, which at approximately 200 words, is both simple and powerful.
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Ask your congressman to support this "parity act".  This can make it easier for crowd sourcing of clean projects such as SolarMosiac does, a kind of micro-loan plan, where a few thousand people can put in a hundred $ and they have several million to install a wind turbine or cover a parking lot with solar panels.   Currently these systems can only return the loan as the system makes money, with the change it will be possible for them to pay interest or dividends as well.

4 comments:

  1. So many good possibilities but even they are eclipsed untill the world declares chapter eleven and we all start from scratch.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Pop, still have your rather plump cat?

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    2. Sarge, we are for sure not Greece or Spain. Both countries eat better than we do, have more nude beaches per capati, and lots more festivals and Holidays. Drink more wine, and most importantly, they laugh more than Americans. And why not, a nude holiday with wine and good food, who wouldn't laugh?

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  2. Simple and smart idea. Hope it is successful.

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