Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today said the Senate has once again missed a critical opportunity to pass a tax incentives package aimed at encouraging renewable energy production and use. The Senate voted 53-43 to bring up the legislation, seven shy of the number needed to move forward. 

Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the tax-writing Finance Committee, has been centrally involved in develop legislation that would allow the country to shift to renewable fuels – such as solar and wind – from fossil fuels. In 2005, he helped write the Energy Policy Act that included renewable tax incentive provisions, many of which are now about to expire.   

The Senate has now voted six times this Congress on legislation to extend the incentives, but continually has fallen just short of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster. Another vote on this issue could take place as soon as Wednesday.

Bingaman gave a speech on the Senate floor today to highlight the legislation's importance.

"It's hard to believe anyone in the Senate thinks letting these tax incentives expire is good public policy. We've debated this issue long enough; it's now time for us to pass legislation that provides incentives needed to encourage the production and use of clean energies," Bingaman said. "While we have a majority of senators who want to move forward, I am very disappointed that we fall short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster."

The most recent version of the bill would have:

• Extended the production tax credit by one year for wind and by three years for other renewable sources, and adds promising marine renewable (such as waves and tides) as eligible sources.
• Made a key 8-year extension of the solar energy and fuel cell investment tax credit, which gives companies the certainty they need to make additional capital investment to US solar facilities while enabling businesses to adopt technologies that will significantly benefit our environment.
• Included a long-term extension of the residential energy-efficient property credit, through 2016, while doubling the annual credit cap from $2,000 to $4,000 and broadening the range of energy-efficient technologies from which consumers can choose.
• Authorized $2 billion in new clean renewable energy bonds, or CREBs, to finance facilities that generate electricity from renewable sources.
• Established a new credit for qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles, starting at a $3,000 and increasing for each kilowatt hour of additional battery capacity.
• Incentivized commercial vehicle owners to invest in idling reduction units, such as auxiliary power units, and advanced insulation.