Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049) for the innovation it will drive and the fiscal responsibility it represents. In our efforts to fashion a bicameral way forward on these important incentives, I sincerely hope that my colleagues in the Senate will take yes for an answer and forward this compromise package to the President without delay.

This pro-growth legislation provides $15 billion for tax incentives in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. It extends the production tax credit for wind, biomass, geothermal and hydropower facilities and expands that credit to include the promising field of marine renewables. It extends the investment tax credit for solar energy, fuel cells and microturbines for eight years and similarly extends the residential solar property credit for another eight years while removing the existing $2000 cap. And it extends important energy efficiency incentives across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors--including accelerated depreciation of smart grid systems and related equipment--while expediting next generation transportation technologies like cellulosic ethanol and plug-in hybrids.

On the extenders side of the equation, this legislation maintains important provisions in the code ranging from the R&D tax credit to encourage business innovation to IRA charitable rollover provisions that support the good works of our non-profit sector to an above-the-line deduction for tuition costs and an enhanced child credit to help our families' budgets during these challenging economic times. Moreover, to meet our colleagues in the Senate halfway, this legislation extends these provisions for two years, as in the Senate bill, and then pays for it by delaying the effective date of an offset the Senate has in principle already agreed to.

Mr. Speaker, this is important, broadly supported, fiscally responsible legislation that needs to be enacted into law this year. I urge its immediate adoption.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source