Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
02/28/2008
Pelosi, Hoyer, Clyburn and Emanuel Send Letter to White House on House-Passed Energy Legislation
Washington, D.C. – The House Democratic leadership sent the
following letter today to President Bush.
Below is a text of the letter:
February 28, 2008
The President
Dear Mr. President:
The House yesterday passed the Renewable Energy and Energy
Conservation Act (H.R. 5351) by a vote of 236-182. The Act extends and expands tax incentives to
deploy and develop wind, solar, geothermal, ethanol, biodiesel, biomass, and
other renewable energy technologies, as well as provides incentives to increase
residential and commercial building efficiency.
These provisions are critical to the creation of hundreds of thousands
of green jobs across
This measure will direct nearly $18 billion in incentives to
American renewable energy. We believe
strongly that this long-term commitment to our future must be made in a
fiscally responsible manner. As part of
the shift in our nation’s energy policy, our legislation funds this commitment
by ending certain tax subsidies given to the largest oil companies that are now
earning historic profits.
There is no justification for continuing taxpayer-financed
subsidies for the largest companies in the oil industry, and the most
profitable corporations in
H.R. 5351 allows our nation to correct an imbalance in our
tax code that favors one industry enjoying historic profits, and reinvest those
dollars to help make cutting-edge technologies commercially viable: creating American jobs, spurring American
innovation, and making real the American commitment to reduce global greenhouse
gases.
Promotion of the renewable energy industry is the goal of
the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, which your
Administration hosts next week. The
conference offers a remarkable world platform to support a fiscally responsible
commitment to these industries and technologies and the jobs they will
produce. We urge you to reconsider your
previous opposition to fiscally sound incentives for American renewable energy,
and lend your support to this historic legislation in time for this occasion.
Sincerely,
James