House and Senate Disagree Over Renewable-Energy Credits

By: Jennifer Kho

Billions of dollars in renewable-energy tax credits are still up in the air after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend them Friday.

That's because the House-approved bill offsets the cost of the credits - slated to expire at the end of the year - by reducing tax subsidies for oil and gas companies, and adding other taxes elsewhere.

The House and Senate disagree about how to pay for the incentives, and the Senate has previously rejected a number of other bills that would have eliminated the corporate subsidies (see Senate Rejects Renewable Tax Credits Bill, Senate Blocks Renewable Incentives Bill, Renewable Tax Incentive Still at Risk, As National Incentives Fail, States to Fuel Renewables, Senate Rejects Green Incentives to Pass Energy Bill and Senate Sends Energy Bill Back to Beginning).

The House voted, 226-166, to amend a proposal the Senate approved Tuesday, which in turn amended a bill the House approved in May (see Senate OKs $18B in Tax Credits).

The bill also cuts out tax incentives for oil-shale and tar-sands development and for technology to turn coal into liquid fuels.

Both bills extend solar-investment credits for eight years, solar-, biomass- and hydropower-production credits for two years and wind-production credits for one year, among other incentives.

In a statement Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House version would reduce dependence on foreign oil by increasing the production of renewable energy and encouraging greater energy efficiency.

She said in a statement:

These provisions are critical to creating and preserving more than 500,000 good-paying green-collar American jobs in the wind and solar industries alone. Congress can wrap this up today. The Senate should seize this opportunity to pass this bill.

The Senate didn't approve the bill Friday, and it's unclear whether it will be able to take another vote on the issue before recessing. While lawmakers planned to end the Congressional session Friday, they are staying to negotiate a bank bailout.

Negotiations on the proposed $700 billion bailout package postponed a vote the House originally expected to hold Thursday.

A procedural error also contributed to the delay, when the House submitted the bill under the wrong number, according to Monique Hanis, director of communications at the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Comments

[User 226214:]

when the hel they are going to approve the renewable energy tax credit?
It is very critical for American with independent to forion oil.

2008 Sep 28 05:09 PM

[Loopy:]

What is the problem are we really this backward now in the USA? Why can't our leaders lead us back to the country we used to be are they just too greedy or stupid or both?

2008 Sep 28 07:55 PM

[Loopy:]

Lets make sure we get rid of every Republican we can in November so they can spend more time with there families and someone that wants to move this country forward can take their place in the Senate.

2008 Sep 28 08:00 PM

[mdmrjsds:]

...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House version would reduce dependence on foreign oil by increasing the production of renewable energy...

This is nonsense. There is no link between renewable energy and oil usage at this time. And there won't be until we can find a way to use (solar and wind) electricity for transportation. You're asking, "What about the biofuels?". The energy cost in petroleum terms are approximately the same as the biofuel generated. Net-net, the only reason this program exists is to pass tax dollars to farmers as support. And as far as biomass goes, we have natural gas up the yin-yang. I notice they even threw in a $3000 tax credit for plug in hybrids. There are none on the market and won't be till the Chevy Volt in 2010.

I'm all in favor of renewable energy, if it is cost effective. And we should definitely be funding research. But this is like throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks, not an energy policy. I haven't bothered, but I bet if you looked at the campaign contributions for the sponsorship of this bill, you will find companies engaged in renewable energy. That isn't policy, that's bribery. It seems to go over well with the green crowd, though. Critical thinking doesn't seem to be their forte.

2008 Sep 28 10:32 PM

[Steven Hansen:]

i am jumping on the R&D bandwagon. if we want energy independence we have to innovate our way there. current technology is not there yet. if you want immediate foreign energy relief go to natural gas cars. we have the gas and we have the technology,

2008 Sep 29 05:00 AM

[jon gatti:]

Where did yhay idea come from--it wasn't well thought out- the Rep. want the solar energy to go forward!


On Sep 28 08:00 PM Loopy wrote:

> Lets make sure we get rid of every Republican we can in November
> so they can spend more time with there families and someone that
> wants to move this country forward can take their place in the Senate.

2008 Sep 29 08:52 AM

[spearit:]

Good plan, get rid of all opposition Republicans so that the Bolsheviks (Barney Frank, Harry Ried and Nancy Pelosi) can use critical legislation to fund pet organizations like ACORN.

At a critical time you can count on the Bolsheviks to slip totally irrelevant crap in to a bill. We need more of these fools running the country

2008 Sep 29 09:43 AM

[Road Runner:]

I'm all for solar and wind, but when is Nancy Polosi going to stop with the bickering over less important things and get something passed. She just needs to get alt energy incentives passed well before the time they expire. Whether the bill is perfect, and pays for itself, is far less important than getting it passed. I'm on her side in this and believe in what she wants, but she is driving me crazy!

2008 Sep 29 10:21 AM