Expanding the Renewable Energy Industry Through Tax Subsidies Using the Structure and Rationale of Traditional Energy Tax Subsidies

Just as the government invested in oil and gas, it must now invest in new energy sources. In a sense, Americans need history to repeat itself. This Note suggests that Congress should amend the United States Tax Code to further subsidize the renewable energy industry. Congress should use subsidies historically available to the oil and gas industries as a model in its amendments. These subsidies serve as a model for promoting the renewable energy industry because such subsidies were fundamental in facilitating the oil and gas industries’ dominance today. Ultimately, Congress must further subsidize the renewable energy industry to avoid the environmental and economic consequences of an economy based on traditional sources of energy. This Note recommends that renewable energy dominance is possible by amending the tax code to subsidize the renewable energy industry using the same subsidization rationales applied to the oil and gas industries.