In the interest of letting Senator Ensign speak for himself on his energy-efficiency tax credit amendment, you can click here for the full text of his Senate Floor Speech (given Thursday).
For those of you who don’t have time to read all 1,216 words, here’s the sum-up:
Ensign refers to the high cost of energy and says we need smart policy for both our economic and national security. He claims his amendment offers tax credits that will encourage more development of alternative, renewable energy (solar, wind, and geothermal).
In answer to those who say his bill has nothing to do with housing, Ensign claims his bill will help create between 100,000 and 200,00 jobs and encourage billions of dollars worth of investment, which will strengthen the economy including the housing market.
Ensign also says the tax credits will reward people who produce their own electricity by going solar, who build or buy an energy-efficient home, or who buy energy efficient appliances…and says these are all related to housing.
In re: to the “not paid for” objection, he claims there are “$2.4 billion in tax-related items that are not paid for in [the housing] bill” and that he therefore challenges the Democratic leadership’s claim that his energy amendment won’t pass in the House.
Ensign asks how the Democrats expect their “not paid for” housing bill to pass if the House is truly not accepting bills that aren’t paid for. (Indeed!)
Finally, Ensign says he is pushing for this now because (1) the private financing of solar, geothermal, and wind power projects is critical to their development, (2) his proposed tax credits will allow private businesses to predict and rely on their return on investment, and therefore (c) investor confidence will immediately rise and more clean/renewable energy projects will happen sooner.
