cbs3_blue-on-white_2013 Philly_KYW_new Philly_94WIP_new CBS Sports Radio 610 Philly_WPHT_new
NOW LIVE: City Officials Hold First Hearing On Deadly Center City Building Collapse: WATCH

Green Energy Wins In Last-Minute U.S. ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Bill

View Comments
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) (C) walks through Statuary Hall. (credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) (C) walks through Statuary Hall. (credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

white space

Love cars?

Visit CBS Philly's

Autos section.

green car reports logo v200 Green Energy Wins In Last Minute U.S. Fiscal Cliff Bill

It wasn’t until 2 a.m. yesterday morning that the U.S. Senate voted 89 to 8 to approve a bill to avert the “fiscal cliff” that took effect on New Year’s Day.

The House of Representatives then took an entire of political wrangling before voting 257-167 to approve the Senate bill late yesterday.

But the final measure turns out to contain some good news for green energy, long a priority of president Barack Obama.

As Reuters reports, the 157-page bill contains an “eclectic mix” of “sweetener” provisions, among them roughly a dozen relating to green energy.

Many of the legislators who voted on the bill may not have been aware of all of its provisions, since votes were taken just minutes after the final bill was distributed.

Those include:

  • a tax credit for the purchase of a two- or three-wheeled electric vehicle of 10 percent of the purchase price up to a maximum of $2,500
  • reinstatement of tax credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel for both 2012 and 2013
  • extension of the cellulosic biofuel tax credit through 2013, with the addition of algae as a qualified feedstock
  • a one-year extension of the tax credit for wind energy of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 10 years a new wind farm is operating
  • tax incentives for purchase of energy-efficient appliances.

Many of the provisions are simply extensions of existing programs that were destined to sunset at the end of last year.

That means the bill’s language may be no more than effectively changing the date of a program’s termination from December 31, 2012, to a future date.

_________________________

This article originally appeared on Green Car Reports.

View Comments
  • http://travel2philadelphia.us/the-latest-philadelphia-news-headlines-forjan-03-2013/ The Latest Philadelphia News headlines for Jan 03 2013 : Travel tips, hotels, restaurants, jobs and news | Travel 2 Philadelphia

    [...] Green Energy Wins In Last-Minute U.S. ‘Fiscal Cliff’ BillMany legislators may not have been aware of the green provisions as voting took place minutes after the bill was introduced. [...]

blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

Follow CBS Philly

Like us on foursquare

Now on CBS Philly

nowon lovearts1 Now on CBS Philly nowon kidcast 03161 Now on CBS Philly nowon dec12 rac Now on CBS Philly  Now on CBS Philly nowon 3onyourside Now on CBS Philly nowon deal Now on CBS Philly dunkin homepage tile Now on CBS Philly  Now on CBS Philly