Friday, October 03, 2008
A last-minute addition to a financial bailout bill supports solar and wind power, as well as plug-in hybrids.
By Kevin Bullis
The financial bailout package signed into law today has some
bonus provisions for renewable energy and plug-in vehicles.
Last year, last-minute wrangling led Congress to drop from
its major energy bill significant tax credits for wind and solar energy, as
well as for plug-in hybrid vehicles. The solar and wind credits were set to
expire next year, which would have put some renewable-energy companies in a
bind. What's more, without a tax credit for plug-in hybrids, vehicles that use
little to no gasoline for short trips, few people would have been able to
afford them.
This year, these credits seemed on track to be approved,
until the financial crisis and Treasury secretary Henry Paulson's bailout
package distracted Congress, leading some experts to worry that the renewable-energy
companies and automakers would be left in the lurch.
But the credits were added to the bailout bill, which passed
the House today and was quickly
signed into law.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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