Washington, DC – With the Senate passing its energy tax package last
night and the House of Representatives taking up its own package today,
now is the time for Congress to renew the federal clean energy tax
credits, according to Environment Maine.
“Clean energy is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy
economic forecast. On top of putting Americans to work in good jobs and
giving the economy a much needed boost, energy efficiency and renewable
energy helps end our dependence on oil; stop global warming ; prevent
destructive mining and drilling in our special places; and clean up our
air ,” said Environment America Executive Director Margie Alt. Environment America is our national federation. “Before
adjourning this week, Congress must help keep the lights on in the
renewable energy industry by renewing the clean energy tax credit
extensions.”
Environment Maine is urging the Congress to pass a package that
supports investments in wind, solar, and geothermal energy generation,
energy efficiency for homes and businesses, and brand new incentives
for ultra efficient plug in hybrid vehicles.
“While all these burgeoning clean energy industries need a boost,
the investment in plug-in electric vehicles is new and especially
exciting,” said Alt. “Plug-in hybrid vehicles are the next phase in
vehicle technology and the most meaningful step we can take to cut our
dependence on oil. These vehicles can achieve up to 100 miles per
gallon and will save the average driver more than $1500 dollars a year
at the pump.”
The Senate package contained an Environment Maine - supported
package of clean energy incentives, but also had added subsidies for
liquid coal, tar sands and oil shale. The group opposes subsidies for
those dirty fuels and technologies because they generate more global
warming pollution than gasoline, use scarce water resources in the arid
west, and despoil acres of our precious environment in the process. The
House bill does not contain the dirty subsidies.
“Clean energy investments are the kind of progress Americans will
benefit from today and that future generations and our planet can
thrive on long into the future,” continued Alt “Unfortunately as we’ve
seen in the mortgage industry and elsewhere, not every investment is a
good one. We applaud the House for rejecting dirty technologies that
might sound good but in fact will take us backwards and down the wrong
path.”
This summer, Environment America, our national federation, conducted a national campaign to
focus attention on the benefits of clean energy and opportunities it
provides to help solve America’s energy problems. The group released a
series of reports showing the enormous potential for concentrating
solar power to meet America’s energy needs, the benefits of high
performance energy efficient buildings and case studies of cutting edge
clean energy projects already helping curb global warming pollution.
Earlier this month, Environment America released a report prepared
for the Center for American Progress showing that investments in
renewable energy and energy efficiency create nearly four times as many
jobs - and three times as many good jobs paying at least $16 dollars an
hour - than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
In addition, Environment America and its state affiliates conducted
a public outreach campaign talking directly to more than 750,000 people
across the country about the benefits of clean energy.
Environment Maine is urging the Senate to similarly pass a clean
energy tax package with no subsidies for dirty energy before it
adjourns.“The time is now for real investment in our new energy future.
We can’t afford to wait for the next president or next Congress to
right our course—too many important energy projects and good jobs are
on the line and too much is at risk from the effects of global warming
and other impacts on our environment and our health,” concluded Alt.
