The fate of tax extensions for renewable energy remains in question today, after the House approved a tax package that differed from the version passed earlier this week in the Senate.
To the delight of enviros, the House version strips out tax incentives for oil shale and tar sands development, as well as provisions to support coal-to-liquid fuels.
Both the the House and Senate versions include one year extensions of the production tax credit for wind and an eight-year extension of the investment tax credits for solar. They also include tax credits for plug-in electric vehicles (though the price figure is different in the two bills), and extend the tax breaks for residential solar.
The House version includes additional measures to pay for the entire package of tax breaks, though, which many Republicans have opposed. This has previously prevented the extensions from passing in the Senate. The White House has also threatened to veto the House bill, while offering support (albeit tepid) for the Senate version.
The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008 passed by a vote of 257-166, marking the sixth time the House has passed these extensions. The bill stalled repeatedly in the Senate, until a compromised version of the package passed earlier this week. At the time of passage, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) urged House members not to change the legislation, worrying that any changes to the package would bring about its demise. "If the House doesn't pass this, the full responsibility of it not passing is theirs," said Reid. "It's not ours."
But House Democrats are holding firm that theirs is the superior version. "This legislation also holds true to our commitment to fiscal responsibility," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a statement today. "By closing loopholes that allow corporations and executives to avoid U.S. taxes by shipping jobs and investment overseas and curtailing unnecessary tax subsidies for big, multinational oil and gas companies, we are ensuring that future generations don't foot the bill for the progress we can make today."
Other House Democrats insisted that this was not a dispute between party members, but rather a matter of Republicans blocking a better version of the bill. "This is not a House-Senate dispute. This is about Republicans taking hostage this renewable energy bill," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on the House floor. "Their approach boils down to this: they absolutely refuse to let us take America forward into a less fossil-fuel dependent economy unless we borrow the money to do it."
It's not clear whether the two sides of Capitol Hill will be able to hammer out the difference between the bills before Congress wraps up for the year. It's possible that the package could be taken up after the election in lame-duck session. If it remains unresolved, the tax credits for renewables will expire at the end of the year.
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Comments
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Jonas Posted 3:16 am
27 Sep 2008
And the rest?
What does the bill say for the tax credit for biomass?
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Susan Kraemer Posted 6:48 am
27 Sep 2008
Biomass is still in, but the whole bill is sunk
My understanding was all the green energy stayed the same, Jonas: theres a link where you can read the green energy details inside at: www.matternetwork.com
House Fully Funds Renewable Energy Act, Possibly Sinking It
The House stripped out oil shale, tar sands, stuff that had lured the Senate Republicans into crossing over along with disaster relief for Hurricane Ike victims: mostly in Republican states, so they were able to pass the Senate version earlier with a Bush-veto-proof majority.
The Senate is in session right now, and so far it has not come up to try a reconciliation of the two versions.
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thabit Posted 6:39 am
29 Sep 2008
House v. Senate: The Debate over H.R. 7060
Thank you for your concise, yet informative coverage of the ongoing legislative battle to pass the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008. H.R. 7060 is a bill that I feel is of seminal importance to both our Nation's economy and security, as incentives for the growth of renewable energy can provide jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It is indeed frustrating that the bill passed through the Senate earlier last week but was then revised by the House. This is especially true since it was emphasized by the bill's proponents in the Senate that the bill pass without amendments. I agree with your conclusion that given this obvious roadblock, it is indeed unclear as to what the future holds for this bill. This is especially true given the nature of our economy's financial crisis.
The proposed $17 billion for the energy tax measure is a relatively small figure for spending when compared to the proposed $700 billion to resuscitate our failing financial institutions. The American economy is indeed in trouble, but there is a distinct possibility that providing funding for renewable energy industries would help prop up our economy. It was reported by Bloomberg correspondent Daniel Whitten that solar companies such as First solar Inc. and Suntech Power Holdings Co. would "create 441,000 permanent jobs and inject $232 billion in new spending into the economy by 2016." These are significant growth figures. We should be learning from the mistakes that brought us into our financial crisis. There must be greater emphasis on Green-tech and alternative energy companies within the American economy.
It is disappointing to see a piece of legislation with such promise look as though it may be shot down as a result of squabbling over who will bear the bill's cost. I find it disheartening that interest groups have such influence over matters imperative to both our economy and the environment. For instance, the objection to scaling back tax breaks for oil companies with foreign interests as a way to pay for renewable energy credits was obviously a reflection of House Republican's defense of their oil lobbyist's interests.
I hope that despite the focus on the proposal to spend $700 billion to bail out our financial institutions, the Senate and House can come to an agreement that will support and advance the renewable energy industry. If passing this legislation does not happen by the end of the year, the investment tax credits will expire, almost certainly crippling companies devoted to the advancement of renewable energies such as solar and wind.
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