[ED Note: Rhetoric without solid analytic tools, masquerading as economics…  Herman is right to question it.]

The wind industry is not likely to save its production tax credit (PTC) in time to sustain continued growth into 2013. The solar industry has lost its 1603 cash grant provision. The geothermal industry’s federal PTC expires at the end of 2013.

Some in renewables are planning a retreat until a better economy and a less contentious, more supportive Congress offer a chance at stable, long-term federal supports like those enjoyed by the fossil and nuclear industries.

PA Consulting Group renewable energy expert Barbara Sands has begun thinking about “things that need to be looked at closer” and “things that may have to happen” for renewables to compete, in the absence of federal incentives, with natural gas at $4.50/MMBtu (million British thermal units) which, Sands said, is “the current forward market for natural gas prices.”

via Can Wind and Solar Compete Against Natural Gas? : Greentech Media.