The sun shined on solar power and other renewable sectors this week.

The House of Representatives' major renewable energy tax credit bill moved through the Senate and was set to move on to the White House.

HR 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, had been rejected eight times by the Senate. But the ninth time was the charm, as the bill's 8-year extension of existing alternative energy tax credits got through with bipartisan approval.

But alas, we Americans know that our representatives never miss an opportunity... to miss an opportunity.

So as of Friday afternoon, House Democrats have scuttled their own bill by introducing a new one, HR 7060, that is weighed down with a provision to pay for renewable tax cuts with money pulled from other sources.

The revenue offsets that the House now wants to cover renewable energy credits may come from tightening loopholes elsewhere in the tax code.

Fiscal conservatives applaud that shift, and budget hawks in both parties are also pushing back against the Paulson bailout plan. But in both cases, they should consider investor confidence as well.

Right now, with the broader market already tilting downward, renewable energy investors should beware the political environment that could allow the solar energy investment tax credit to expire at the end of 2008.

You'll read more about that from Nick Hodge on Tuesday, after the weekend's continued negotiations reveal more from Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, across the pond, there's...

Good News in International Renewables

The United Nations just released a landmark report that shows renewable energy market encouragement is up as a winning economic strategy for the worldwide economy.

After saying this July that renewable energy projects around the globe totaled over $148 billion in 2007, thereby tripling the UN Environment Program's 20% yearly growth target with a 60% year-on-year increase, the UN is now projecting the kind of job creation any politician would love to take credit for.

This week's report, Green Jobs: Towards Decent work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World, doesn't greenwash the toil and trouble it takes to build a new energy economy. Many of the jobs that develop in wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other clean power sectors will be "dirty, dangerous and difficult," the Green Jobs report makes clear.

But the UNEP also says that to date, 2.3 million people have gained employment in renewable energy, potentially rising to 8.4 million in wind and solar alone by 2030.

Add in clean technology and efficiency mechanisms, biofuels, and water technology, and we're looking at not only a huge surge of working-age people into new energy, but also the growing government and private money inflow to pay them.

Renewable Energy Investments: Higher Returns Than Fossil Fuels

In China, green venture capital doubled in the past year to 19% of total VC investment. Worldwide, clean energy is the #3 VC target out of all industries, behind biotech and information technology.

What about the crowd that says, "Drill first, drill here, drill now," proposing a continuation of heavy fossil fuel exploration off national coasts from Louisiana to Siberia?

Well, the UN answers directly with a higher per-dollar employment return on investment in renewables than in fossil fuel... From $630 billion over the next two decades, some 20 million jobs could be created.

20 million jobs worldwide, in a constantly evolving sector based on infinite natural resources and vibrant technology.

That's not a bail-out, it's an all-in proposition for the world's economies to secure their futures and find real value from the top of the economy all the way down, instead of trying to slice the same dollar into a million pieces and calling it a fortune as we did in the era of investment banks.

You can read more about the UNEP report here on the program website.

And we'll keep you up to date with the latest market action and companies that are creating jobs and profits in this unstoppable global industry. Because even if Washington politicians drag their hells in the political muck, we've got the angle on companies in Germany, Japan, Israel and elsewhere where the money is flowing steady.

To learn about our full international stock portfolio, check out Green Chip International today: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/9178

Regards,

Sam Hopkins