Tax credits for renewable energy pass Senate, but fight with House looms

摘要

The House and Senate have taken two very different stands on how to extend renewable energy tax credits that are set to expire this year, and negotiators must now reconcile them. The Senate may instead consider another measure that would provide longer extensions with cuts in funding somewhere else. In February, the House passed a bill that would extend a variety of credits for wind, solar, efficiency and other technologies that are set to expire by the end of 2008. The measure (H.R. 5351) would authorize $18 billion for the credits, and pay for them with rollbacks to oil and natural gas tax breaks. Similar packages have failed twice in the Senate, because pro-fossil fuels Republicans have used Senate rules to block them. Last week, the Senate voted 88-8 for a renewable tax credit extension bill sponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, and John Ensign, a Nevada Republican. It was added to a housing bill (H.R. 3221), which later passed by a vote of 84-12. Concerns have been raised that the renewable energy incentives could stall in a legislative conference with the House because there are no provisions to pay for the tax breaks in the Senate bill.