FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 6 February 2008CONTACT: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384                  Minority Filibusters Clean Energy--Again  Tax Incentives to Spur Growth in Green Jobs, Kickstart Economy Blocked Washington, D.C.--This evening by a vote of 58 to 41 (including a negativevote by Majority Leader Reid for procedural reasons), the Senate failed toovercome a Republican-led filibuster to advance an economic stimuluspackage that includes important clean energy incentives--a key addition tothe package passed by the House last week.  This is the third time in thepast seven months that the Republican leadership has blocked a package ofclean energy tax incentives.           Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director "A strong, bipartisan majority in the Senate showed tonight that itunderstands that a strong economy and a clean environment go hand in hand.Unfortunately, a determined and short-sighted minority has once againdecided to block progress.  This minority has decided that partisanpolitics are more important than enacting the policies that we urgentlyneed--policies supported by the vast majority of the American people. "Failing to quickly renew these clean energy incentives will snuff out oneof the few bright spots in our troubled economy.  75,000 hardworkingAmericans stand to be thrown out of work in the wind industry alone unlessCongress acts.  Instead of lifting the economy up, some Senators haveapparently decided to kick it while it’s down. "The American people are clamoring for renewable energy and the thousandsof jobs it has been prove to create and we will continue to work with ourleaders in Congress to extend these essential clean energy incentives assoon as possible.  Neither our economy nor our environment cannot affordfurther delay." ------For details on how a strong investment in renewable energy can create over820,000 new jobs at thousands of existing firms across the country, pleasevisit:www.sierraclub.org/bluegreenjobs The clean energy incentives included in the Senate version of the economicstimulus package include: The $5.7 billion package includes quite a few goodies:·     1-year extension of the Production Tax Credit--$3 billion·     Solar, fuel cell, and microturbine investment credits--$130 million·     Clean Renewable Energy Bonds--$400 million·     High-efficiency appliance credits--$323 million·     Energy efficiency credits for new homes--$61 million·     Energy efficiency credits for home retrofits--$1.5 billion·     Energy efficiency credits for commercial buildings--$153 million                                    # # #
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