Alliance Applauds Senate Finance Committee for Including Energy-Efficiency Tax Incentives in Stimulus Package
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--The Alliance to Save Energy praised the Senate Finance Committee
today for including four major energy-efficiency tax incentives as
part of the economic stimulus package it approved for full Senate
consideration.
"Today's action by the Senate Finance Committee can help American
consumers combat spiraling home energy costs that are expected to
average roughly $2,200 this year and will have a downstream, positive
impact on jobs and our economy," Alliance President Kateri Callahan
noted. "Energy-efficiency tax incentives put money into the economy by
encouraging the purchase of energy-efficient products and services and
put money back into the pockets of consumers and businesses by
lowering their monthly energy bills," Callahan said.
She added, "And while today the Senate Finance Committee is using
energy efficiency tax incentives as an economic tool, these incentives
also work as effective policy measures for reducing CO2 and other
pollutants, as well as enhancing our energy security."
She added: "It is particularly beneficial that the consumer
credits for energy-efficiency home retrofits and the manufacturer
credits for high-efficiency appliances, which expired at the end of
2007, would be extended for two years. This would keep all the
energy-efficiency tax incentives 'live' through 2009, as Congress
already extended through 2008 the incentives for commercial buildings
and new homes."
Briefly, the tax provisions provide:
-- Tax credits up to a total of $500 for homeowners who install
new ENERGY STAR windows, exterior doors, or pigmented metal
roofs; install highly energy-efficient furnaces, boilers,
central air conditioners, heat pumps, or water heaters; or add
insulation (the amounts vary for each product; see
www.ase.org/taxcredits for details);
-- Tax credits for manufacturers of energy-efficient clothes
washers, dishwashers, and refrigerators (see
www.energytaxincentives.org for details);
-- Tax deductions for owners or tenants of new or renovated
commercial buildings who cut by at least half the annual
heating, cooling, ventilation, water heating, and interior
lighting costs that meet the national ASHRAE Standard
90.1-2001; (see www.energytaxincentives.org for details); and
-- Builders of new homes that exceed a national model energy code
by 50 percent (subject to certification) and producers of
manufactured homes producers that exceed a national model code
by 30 percent or that meet ENERGY STAR standards (see
www.energytaxincentives.org for details).
Callahan saluted Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.),
Ranking Minority Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Maria Cantwell
(D-Wash), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and the other Finance
Committee members "for their foresight and creativity in adding
energy-efficiency tax incentives to the stimulus package so that we
'stimulate' movement toward environmental and energy security
imperatives, even as we seek to prop up the flagging economy."
The Alliance calls upon the full Senate, the House and the
president to follow the lead of the Senate Finance Committee in
recognizing the important economic, environmental, and energy security
benefits of driving greater energy efficiency in the U.S. economy
through the tax code.
The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business,
government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the
efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the
environment, the economy, and national security.
Alliance to Save Energy
Ronnie Kweller, 202-530-2203
rkweller@ase.org
Copyright Business Wire 2008
