Renewable Energy Tax Credit Extension Urgently Needed

My name is Eliza Berry and I am interning in the Sierra Club’s D.C. office this summer.  I am very much looking forward to periodically posting throughout the summer.

When Congress returns from recess after the Fourth of July, the  debate over extending tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects will continue.  Though there is bipartisan support for extending the incentives beyond the end of 2008 (the current expiration date), Senate Republicans have repeatedly blocked attempts to pass legislation that would extend the incentives because of how the Democrats are proposing to pay for them.  While the future of the tax credits remains uncertain, news stories appear every day describing how harmful the expiration of these tax credits could be.  Here are just a few examples:

• Plans for a 100 megawatt solar installation in Tucson, AZ that would power more than 200,000 homes have been put on hold until the tax credit extension passes.
• As the price of food, energy and health insurance go up and school budgets are stretched, public schools in Santa Cruz City and Milpitas, CA have found creative ways of cutting their utility bills—partnering with third party businesses to install solar panels on schools grounds.  These projects are cost effective and a great educational tool.  If the tax credits expire, schools will likely put further solar installations on hold. 
• A study by Navigant Consultant estimated that across the U.S., 116,000 jobs in the wind and solar industries could be lost next year if the tax credit expires.
• Kansas Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson explained that Kansas’s wind industry has the potential to produce 7,000 to 10,000 megawatts beyond the state’s needs for export.  Without tax incentives this industry expansion will be in jeopardy.

You can help by contacting your Senators to let them know how important it is that we extend the clean energy tax credits as soon as possible. Check out this Take Action.

Comments

[lloyd]

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[julie]

I feel very much against "development" of public lands in the name of sustainability. Solar panels and windfarms need to be scaled to the urban environment so our streets and homes have them. I don't believe into expanding cities any further in the name of anything eco. This may end up just like the ethanol fiasco. If we care about the environment we should not let be used to urbanize the little left to nature, no matter how much energy it would produce for the clueless.