Credit, But No Credits

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an appearance Monday at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s 30th anniversary celebration, where she praised Silicon Valley for ongoing innovation that is helping to address the nation’s greatest problems, including climate change. On that note, Pelosi said her contribution to helping advance the region was getting the recent energy bill passed and signed into legislation. The problem, of course, is that the energy bill was a body blow to the very same innovation Pelosi gushed about, thanks to Congress’ failure to approve the much-needed solar and wind tax credits. Pelosi called the bill a breakthrough in Washington’s “brick wall” of status quo, but admitted, “We didn’t get everything we want.” She said she’s hopeful that within the next few weeks the Senate will get on board with the alt-energy tax credit plan the House recently approved. Pelosi did her best to stay bipartisan all the way up to the end, but the outspoken Democratic leader couldn’t help herself when an audience member set her up on the final question: when will the federal government stop throwing money at the war in Iraq? “As soon as we have a new president, we can evaluate our priorities as a country,” Pelosi said. “I hope the answer to your question will be ‘very, very soon.’”

The Fly is the valley’s longest running political column, written by Metro Silicon Valley staff, to provide a behind-the-scenes look at local politics. Fly accepts anonymous tips.

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