Washington, D.C. – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined his colleagues this week to introduce legislation to reduce carbon pollution over the next decade through a series of incentives for clean energy and the promotion of new technologies in the private sector.
“Shifting to a clean energy economy is a crucial step we must take for the future of our country,” Bennet said. “This legislation would set up simple, long-term tax incentives to encourage the private sector to create innovative energy technologies. At a time when the Administration has threatened to undo the progress we’ve made on reducing carbon, it is crucial that we advance policies like this to protect our environment and create new jobs.
“Colorado has already committed to meeting carbon standards set under the Clean Power Plan, and we will continue to support legislation that cuts carbon pollution, while creating millions of jobs in the clean energy sector,” Bennet continued.
The Clean Energy for America Act includes technology-neutral tax credits to encourage the domestic production of clean electricity and clean transportation fuel, as well as performance-based tax incentives for energy-efficient homes and office buildings. These credits are open to all resources, including fossil fuels that capture carbon or make efficiency improvements.
The current system of energy incentives in the tax code is overly complex and far less effective than it should be. Today, there are 44 different energy tax incentives. More than half are too short-term to effectively stimulate investments, while also providing different subsidies to different technologies. By contrast, this legislation proposes a dramatically simpler set of long-term, performance-based energy tax incentives that are technology-neutral and promote clean energy production and storage in the United States.
Legislative text can be found here. A one-page summary of the bill can be found here and a longer summary of the bill can be found here.