[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14] [Senate] [Pages 19674-19675] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]ENERGY Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes to express my strong support for the so-called extenders package, which includes the Energy Improvement and Extension Act and will come before the Senate, as I understand it, as early as this afternoon. Passage of this bill is very important for the country and will have wide-reaching impacts. It will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, curb greenhouse gas emissions, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, promote R&D in our innovative industries, ease fiscal burdens on rural counties, and reduce the tax burden on middle-class families. The bill demonstrates the critical role that tax incentives can play in addressing our country's most pressing challenges. Let me focus today on the very robust package of tax incentives for clean, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. Those are incentives I and many of my colleagues have worked on since the beginning of this Congress. We have already taken eight votes this Congress on various versions of this energy tax package. Unfortunately, as the ``green'' energy sector has sat by and production has slowed in that sector, and as skyrocketing gas prices have made our dependence on foreign oil more apparent than ever, our energy tax incentives have been hostage to a broader dispute between the parties concerning whether, and how, to offset the costs of extending various tax provisions. I am very pleased that after a number of false starts, we appear, finally, to have reached a compromise. The compromise will enable us to become a more energy-efficient nation. It will wean us off of our dependence on fossil fuels. It extends the production tax credit by 1 year for wind energy and by 2 years for other qualified renewable sources. I had hoped we could achieve a longer term extension of the production tax credit, but this is all that could be afforded within the package's cost constraints. Undoubtedly, this bill's extension of the production tax credit will enable our renewable industries to stay afloat. Today, I want to state my commitment again to work for a long-term extension of the production tax credit, which is very much needed, which I hope we can achieve in the next Congress. This package, however, includes long-term extensions for tax credits that make distributed green energy technologies affordable for American businesses and families. The investment tax credit, which gives businesses a 30-percent tax credit for investing in solar, wind, geothermal, and ocean energy equipment, is extended for a full 8 years. So, too, is the residential energy efficiency property credit, which gives families a 30-percent tax credit for the cost of installing solar equipment at their residences. That is an 8-year extension of that provision, which is very good news for many Americans. For both of these tax incentives, the bill expands the classes of qualifying equipment. This means businesses and families will have added flexibility in choosing the energy-saving technologies that make the most sense for them. Both credits are expanded to include small wind technologies that are used for onsite energy production, and geothermal heat pumps, which can use the Earth as either a heat source, when operating in heating mode, or a heat sink, when operating in cooling mode. There are already more than 1 million geothermal heat pumps installed in the United States, and those who have installed them can save up to 70 percent annually on their utility bills. So when this bill becomes law, families will be able to choose among installing solar technology, small wind technology, and geothermal heat pumps in their homes, and the 30 percent tax credit will be available for any of those installations. In case of solar electric investments, we greatly improve the incentive by removing the current $2,000 credit cap. The bill also expands the business credit to include combined heat and power systems, which use a heat engine or power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat. Businesses that install these systems are able to get both heat and electricity from the same source, which decreases both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The benefits of these investments, these incentives, go far beyond energy independence, greenhouse gas reduction, and energy cost savings. They will enable U.S. firms of all sizes to add a great many ``green'' jobs on American soil. The Navigant Consulting organization recently put out a report estimating that the 8-year extension of the solar credit that I have just talked about will create 1.2 million employment opportunities in this country, including 440,000 permanent jobs, and $232 billion in domestic investment. Solar energy is already an important economic engine in my State of New Mexico. I am very pleased this extension is anticipated to add an additional 12,000 direct jobs in my State and 7,000 indirect jobs. Shifting to the need to reduce demand for petroleum, the bill creates a new plug-in electric drive vehicle credit. We are hopeful that plug- in electric vehicles will come to the market next year and that the Government will help individuals purchase these vehicles through tax credits. This bill provides those tax credits will start at $2,500, and they will climb as high as $7,500, depending upon the battery capacity of the particular vehicle. For commercial vehicles, the bill adds incentives for idling reduction units, which provides an alternative source of power used to heat, cool, or provide electricity to the cab or other parts of the truck. There are more than 200,000 trucks carrying refrigerated [[Page 19675]] cargo around this country any day. The fleet owners will be incentivized to install advanced insulation on those trucks that can dramatically reduce the amount of gasoline those trucks consume trying to keep that cargo cool. So this is a very important provision. Finally, the bill addresses our conservation and efficiency needs. It extends credits for energy-efficient improvements to new and existing homes and commercial buildings. Because energy used to heat and cool residential and commercial buildings accounts for nearly 40 percent of U.S. energy consumption--and nearly as much of our carbon dioxide emissions--these tax incentives are especially important. Owners of existing homes will be able to claim a tax credit of up to 10 percent of the combined costs from all qualified electric efficiency improvements, such as installing insulation in their homes, replacing windows, water heaters, and high-efficiency cooling and heating equipment. For new homes, there is a $2,000 tax credit for a home builder who constructs a qualified new energy-efficient home, certified to achieve a 50-percent reduction in energy usage. With new homes likely to remain part of our Nation's housing stock for more than 60 years, we need to make sure that builders have the right incentives to make energy efficiency a top priority. Owners of commercial buildings will continue to be able to deduct up to $1.80 per square foot of building floor area if they achieve a 50-percent energy savings target through energy reductions for the building's HVAC and interior lighting system. With this addition to the provisions related to energy, American businesses are counting on Congress to enact this package because it contains an extension of the R&D development tax credit. It contains important tax relief for American families. It patches the alternative minimum tax to prevent it from engulfing millions of additional hard- working families. It lowers the income threshold for the $1,000 child tax credit from $12,000 to $8,500. That change alone enables 25,000 New Mexico children to newly qualify and an additional 94,000 to receive a larger credit than under prior law. It extends the qualified tuition deduction for higher education expenses. That is a deduction of up to $4,000 that helps more than 4.4 million middle-class families meet the cost of sending their children to college. Finally, the bill includes the secure world schools provisions and the payment in lieu of taxes provisions. These are extremely important for Western States in particular but for virtually all of our States. As to the payment in lieu of taxes, let me talk specifically about that issue. We increase funding for payment in lieu of taxes in the current fiscal year. We fully fund the program for 4 years. These Federal payments are essential to local governments, including many in my State, in order to offset the losses and property taxes due to nontaxable Federal lands located within their boundaries. This funding is long overdue, and it is more desperately needed now than ever before. Passage of this legislation, this energy incentives package, will demonstrate to the American people that we are willing to shift our tax priorities in a new direction toward a national energy policy that promotes diversified domestic sources of clean energy. It furthers the significant progress we made in recent years with respect to promoting investment in efficiency and the renewable energy technologies that can help grow our economy. And beyond energy issues, it addresses key concerns of American families, businesses, and municipalities. I applaud the various Senators who have had a major part in the development of this legislation, particularly Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley, but also our leadership, both the Democratic and Republican leaders, for bringing us together around this package. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. REID. Mr. President I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________