Bipartisan Companion for Extension of Renewable Energy Tax Credits Introduced

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52433

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and 34 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced H.R. 5984, a bipartisan companion to S. 2821, also known as the Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008. S. 2821 was introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Ensign (R-NV) and has 43 cosponsors. S. 2821 was included as an amendment to The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 which was approved by a vote of 88-8. House leaders stripped that provision from the bill when it was considered in the House.

<snip>

“In one of his columns last week, New York Times’ Thomas Friedman decried the stalemate that has so far prevented the extension of renewable energy tax credits that would otherwise expire this year,” said Congressman Bartlett. “That was the impetus behind this effort to get things moving on the House side. The Senate has led on this issue with a bipartisan bill and an overwhelming bipartisan vote in support of extending these important incentives for clean, domestic renewable energy production. I hope the House will agree to quickly follow suit. I am glad to be so quickly joined in this bipartisan effort with 34 colleagues.”

The Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008 would provide for the limited continuation of clean energy production incentives and incentives to improve energy efficiency that would otherwise lapse under current tax law. Specifically, the bill would extend critical tax incentives including the production tax credit for electricity produced from renewable sources like wind, biomass, hydropower, and geothermal; and the 30 percent investment credit for businesses that install solar or fuel cell equipment.

<not much more>

www.congress.org makes it easy. You just enter you zip and they pull up your senator and congressmen for you. they give you a text field to type your message into and they take care of the rest. It'FREE. It's EASY. What's not to like?!

The Production Tax Credit for Wind farms is going to be extended for only one year. The lead time for delivery of a Wind Turbine is about a year to a year and a half. ONe year isn't enough of an extension. They should extend for two or three years.

While your at it tell them the Government should underwrite loans to Wind turbine manufacturers to facilitate production capacity expansion by the wind turbine manufacturers. The biggest hold up affecting wind turbine installations is the back log of orders at the turbine manufacturers. They need to expand. Underwriting the loans would lower the risk and make loans to these manufacturers more attractive. THe manufacturers would be able to borrow money at lower rates this way too.

Send a message to Congressional members. You never know. Your email just might be the one to get them to the tipping point! Democracy is not a spectator sport! Get involved! Make a difference! Seriously.