Repower America News Releases

President Obama released his framework for corporate tax reform yesterday morning, which includes provisions to eliminate tax breaks to the oil and gas industries and to make the renewable energy production tax credit permanent and refundable.  The plan seeks to expand manufacturing such that the United States takes the lead in manufacturing clean energy technologies, citing that “this will create jobs here at home and … reduce air and water pollution and enhance our national security by reducing dependence on oil.”

The House of Representatives is reportedly pushing a rollback of energy saving standards for light bulbs in the omnibus spending bill being debated in Congress.   If successful, they will repeal energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that were originally passed with industry support and a large bipartisan majority in 2007.  According to a study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy the standards could lead to $11.9 billion per year in energy savings when fully instituted.  

President Obama, joined by former President Clinton and business leaders, today announced the next steps in the Better Buildings Initiative to unleash private sector investments in energy efficiency improvements for our nation’s buildings.

Senators Snowe, Bingaman, and Feinstein on Monday introduced a bill to create a tax credit that would reward homeowners who reduce the amount of energy they use in their homes. The proposed “Cut Energy Bills at Home Act” creates a sliding scale of tax credits based on the amount of energy saved in a home, providing up to $5000 for lowering energy use in one’s home by half.