Ensign, Cantwell Announce
‘Paid For’ Deal On Renewable
Energy
Senators
John Ensign and Maria Cantwell announced a deal on renewable energy tax
incentives that is fully
“paid for.” Ensign and Cantwell have led efforts in the United States Senate to
break through partisan gridlock and bring together a plan that can be signed
into law.
“Today we are putting the
finishing touches on a deal that will encourage clean energy sources in the
United States,” said Ensign. “This is a critical step in moving America toward
energy independence. I appreciate Senator Cantwell’s reaching across the aisle
because her tireless efforts helped make this compromise possible.”
“It was great to work with
Senator Ensign to break the partisan stalemate and come up with these critically
needed clean energy sources,” said Cantwell. “This will create at least 400,000
new jobs in the U.S. solar industry alone over the next eight years.”
The renewable incentives will
encourage the development of wind, solar, geothermal and other clean sources of
energy. For homeowners, it provides a two-year tax incentive to put up solar
panels.
Working with Finance
Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Charles Grassley, as well as
leadership from both sides of the aisle, Ensign and Cantwell helped broker the
deal over the last week.
Ensign, Cantwell Push Renewable Energy Bill
Through Senate
Thanks to the efforts of
Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Senate passed a bill
to encourage the development of renewable energy. Working in a bipartisan
manner, Ensign and Cantwell crafted this deal with the support of Majority
Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Senator Cantwell’s efforts
to reach across the aisle were key to reaching this deal,” said Ensign.
“Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have compromised and passed a great
bill. Republicans in the House have agreed to pass it as is. Now it is up to
the House Democrat leadership to join our efforts and pass this bill. I urge
them to act quickly so that we can get this bill to the President.”
“Today we finally cleared the
logjam in the Senate and extended critical tax incentives for American
businesses that move our country toward a clean energy future. This truly has
been a bipartisan effort, and I thank Senator Ensign for all his work throughout
the year on this issue,” said Cantwell.
“I admire and respect the
work done by Sens. Cantwell and Ensign,” said Majority Leader Reid on the Senate
floor. “They have worked very hard. It was a bipartisan effort to move
forward.”
“Sen. Ensign has been
a real leader in the effort to extend renewable energy tax incentives and create
more clean energy sources and good jobs here at home,” said Republican Leader
McConnell. “He worked across the aisle to make this happen and didn’t give up
until he was able to break the gridlock and move this critical legislation
forward.”
Ensign and Cantwell forged a
compromise that passed the Senate in April, but the House of Representatives
objected to it. Because renewable energy is a critical component to any
comprehensive energy plan, Ensign and Cantwell fought to ensure passage of this
bill today.
The bill extends the
placed-in-service deadline for the Production Tax Credit, which encourages
electricity production using geothermal, wind, hydropower and much more. By
extending and improving the solar and fuel cell Investment Tax Credit for eight
years, the bill encourages tremendous development of these technologies.
The legislation also
encourages energy efficient improvements to buildings and homes, including the
addition of solar panels, geothermal heat pumps and energy efficient
appliances. Recent estimates say this legislation could create millions of jobs
across the economy and result in hundreds of billions of dollars in economic
investment.
