Renewable Energy And Energy Conservation Tax Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION TAX ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - August 04, 2007)

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, while I agreed with my friend from Wisconsin about the farm bill, he could not be more wrong when it comes to what is happening here on this energy legislation.

First and foremost, it is not just the appearance of PAYGO. We are rolling up our sleeves and actually funding this legislation, instead of the borrow-and-spend policies that we have seen the other side of the aisle practice for the last 12 years. We have a bipartisan "Pay-for'' that was approved in the first hours of this session, closing an unnecessary loophole that was snuck in in the last session of Congress.

The notion about picking winners and losers is also wrong. With the leadership our Chair of the select committee, Mr. Neal, we had extensive hearings to listen to what happened across-the-board in terms of alternative energy. We have rationalized how they are treated for subsidizing wind, for solar, for biomass, for wave energy, a whole range of alternative energy sources.

We are not picking winners and losers. We are extending tax subsidies, and we are treating them all fairly to let the marketplace act. We are increasing the supply of energy. By providing incentives for domestic production of alternatives it is going to make a huge difference. And we are relying on the energy and activity of cities and States across the country that are far ahead of the Federal Government when it comes to dealing with global warming, with dealing with energy efficiency. We have at least 612 cities that have already initiated their own Programs of Kyoto compliance. We are providing some resources to help them do something about it.

Last, but not least, we are closing the egregious loophole that had the Federal Government subsidize the purchase of the largest, most energy-inefficient luxury cars. We have closed that hummer loophole. We are instead using this money to provide opportunities for using smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles; and we are subsidizing plug-in hybrids, a very good trade off.

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Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, my good friend from Texas doesn't understand, I fear, how the Hummer loophole works. It is not the suburban mom running around with their kids in a Hummer or a Cadillac Escalante. It only is for business use that the Hummer loophole applies.

We are closing it for business use, so there is not an extra incentive for somebody to buy the largest, most fuel inefficient vehicles, and gives them a tax break that they won't give to somebody who buys a Ford Taurus.

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