From Politico’s ‘Morning Energy’ update:

TAX EXTENDERS – Expiring tax incentives for the ethanol and renewable industries could help ease the bitter pill that Democrats may have to swallow if they agree to the tax deal Obama and Republicans carved out, POLITICO’s Darren Goode reports. https://politi.co/eKHzor

So far, it appears as though some type of extension of the ethanol credits will make its way in the final package, but the fate of the Treasury grant program for renewables remains uncertain. While no one appears to be coming out and saying they need the tax incentives to vote for the overall package, some Democrats are coming awfully close to issuing that ultimatum. “They’re getting close to being deal-breakers,” said Ben Nelson, who is supporting both the ethanol and renewable energy incentives. “There’s no reason for them not to be” in the bill.

I get this Cornhusker (as in ‘Kickback’) pushing the whole corn squeezins thing. That’s ‘his move’. But you’ve got to be kidding me abut the windmills. What he says is flatly untrue. So untrue, it’s backward.

A wealth transfer from American taxpayers overseas incurring massive debt for staggering (hundreds of thousands of dollars) in per-job costs for a handful of temporary installation jobs that will only be there if you keep the bubble inflated, merely delaying its burst and digging deeper. All made clear in that WaPo piece (!) linked above. There’s no reason to continue this absurdity.

UPDATE: A journalist you know helpfully passes along the following:

New on msnbc.com, from our partners at American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop:

Wind at their backs: Powerful  Democrats help Chinese energy  firm chase stimulus money: Sen. Reid and Obama donors back company seeking $450 million in U.S. money