FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 23, 2008CONTACT: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384 Progress--But Dirty Fuels Must Go From Clean Energy Tax Bill Washington, D.C.—Today by a margin of 93 to 2, the Senate passed an amendedversion of the H.R. 6049, the package of energy tax extenders. Thispackage was amended into a larger tax package that subsequently passedoverwhelmingly. The bill extends critical tax incentives to support thedevelopment of renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar, andgeothermal. The package also includes a suite of tax credits to supportthe manufacture and purchase of energy efficient consumer appliances,homes, buildings and plug-in hybrids. This latest version of the bill alsounfortunately contains incentives for dirty, destructive, and costly oilshale, liquid coal, and tar sands. The Sierra Club today called on Congress to remove the incentives for dirtyfuels from this important bill before it is sent to the president’s desk. Statement of Melinda Pierce, Sierra Club Dep. Director of National Campaigns "The Senate took an important step forward today by passing a fully offsetversion of these essential clean energy incentives paid for by cappingunneeded subsidies enjoyed by the biggest oil companies. "Thankfully we’ve moved on from drill here, drill now to the real cleanenergy solutions that will actually benefit hardworking Americans in thehere and now. "Passing these renewable energy tax incentives for wind and solarrepresents is one of the most important ways Congress can support thetransition clean energy economy. Supporting investment in Renewable energytechnologies will create new high wage American jobs, save consumers moneyon their energy bills and reduce global warming pollution. "Unfortunately, in the final writing of the legislation, Big Oil and BigCoal extracted their pound of flesh by adding in tax credits for dirty,costly and destructive liquid coal, oil shale, and tar sands. Because ofthese provisions, we are unfortunately unable to support the bill at thistime. These dirty fuels provisions would be a major setback in our effortsto address global warming and move America toward a clean energy economy.We urge Congress to strip out these harmful provisions before thelegislation becomes law. "While we are closer than ever to reaching a final agreement, Congressshould keep this energy bill clean and remove the dirty fuels provisionsbefore it is sent to the President’s desk. These dirty fuels are a dryhole and nothing but a costly diversion from the real solutions to ourenergy problems--energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy.” # # # - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp