Renewable Energy Bill Passes House

A few minutes ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax of 2008 (H.R. 5351). The final vote was 236 – 182 with 11 members of the House not voting, and was largely split along party lines.

In a joint statement, Speaker Pelosi, House Majority Leader Hoyer and sponsor of the bill Rangel said: “The bill extends and expands tax incentives for renewable electricity, energy and fuel, as well as for hybrid cars, and energy efficient homes, buildings, and appliances. It does not add to our deficit, but rather repeals $18 billion in tax subsidies for Big Oil companies.”

“The bill extends and expands tax incentives for renewable electricity, energy and fuel, as well as for hybrid cars, and energy efficient homes, buildings, and appliances,” the Democratic leaders’ statement continued. “It does not add to our deficit, but rather repeals $18 billion in tax subsidies for Big Oil companies. By strengthening our renewable energy sector, the bill will help create the next generation of good-paying, green collar jobs and bring down energy prices in the long term.”

House Democrats spoke out in favor of the bill, saying that it will help push the U.S. toward energy independence. On the other side of the aisle, House Republicans spoke out against it on the grounds that it would do nothing more than single out America’s domestic oil industry with higher taxes that will hurt the economy and the pocket books of consumers.

H.R. 5351 will increase investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency and will pay for that investment by repealing unnecessary tax breaks to traditional energy companies. It is similar to the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act (H.R. 2776) that passed the House as part of a bipartisan energy package in August 2007 but was stripped in order for the package to pass in the Senate.

The Bush Administration has already issued a letter indicating that the president will veto a bill that rolls back tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, so all eyes are now on the Senate, to see whether the Finance Committee can find less objectionable sources of revenue.

Watch this space!

(ARTICLE FROM SOLAR NATION)

I’ll keep this short and sweet. The senate voted yesterday 59-40 to remove the renewable energy tax credits from the energy bill. That means, at the end of 2008, barring some new legislation, the sweet 30% tax credit for solar energy (with a cap of $2000 for residential and NO CAP for commercial) will be gone.

Nothing else in the bill hugely mattered for solar. This tax credit will be a deal breaker for mega corporations who would have paid to have all their stores installed with solar power. It is NECESSARY to make it work financially.

From solar nation:

“Republican Senators Voting ‘Nay’ on Cloture Vote for Energy Bill Tax Title
Stevens (AK), Sessions, Shelby (AL), Kyl (AZ), Allard (CO), Martinez (FL)
Chambliss, Isakson (GA), Craig, Crapo (ID), Brownback, Roberts (KS)
Bunning, McConnell (KY), Vitter (LA), Bond (MO), Cochran, Lott (MS)
Burr, Dole (NC), Hagel (NE), Gregg, Sununu (NH), Domenici (NM), Ensign (NV) Voinovich (OH), Coburn, Inhofe (OK), Specter (PA), DeMint, Graham (SC)
Alexander, Corker (TN), Cornyn, Hutchison (TX), Bennett (UT), Warner (VA)
Barrasso, Enzi (WY)

Republican Senators Not Voting on Energy Bill Cloture Vote: McCain (AZ)

Democratic Senators Voting ‘Nay’ on Cloture Vote for Energy Bill Tax Title:  Landrieu (LA)

Till the end of 2008, if you install a solar power system, you can get a $2000 Federal Tax Credit. If you are a business you can get 30% of the cost of your installation, that can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars. This credit which helps facilitate the growth of the solar industry may be DISSPEARING! I won’t get into the details of why it’s important, but to illustrate…. Best buy is gonna put solar systems on a lot of it’s stores, and they’ve said if the credit goes away they will abort their plans. Just when businesses started to take Google’s lead seriously and see the merits, they’re about to get a cactus up the butt from our governement.

This credit was in the energy bill, and now it’s not, it’s been removed. Here is a good article on the energy bill.

I beg you, call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and pressure her to make sure we keep the tax credit past 2008. It’s vital to the future of solar power…. It’s crucial. Think of MySpace trying to achieve it’s critical mass with no boobs. It wouldn’t work. The credit makes solar make financial sense for businesses. Do you want to rely on businesses’ altruism to take the initiative? Please, that’s why they call it a BUSINESS, they don’t do things that lose them money.

Email Pelosi here or here or here

Thanks!!!