Against heavy odds, U.S. Senate Democratic and Republican leadership – including Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Harry Reid, D-Nev., John Ensign, R-Nev., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. – have taken wide strides toward pushing legislation that will potentially extend the solar investment tax credit (ITC).
The agreement, which was hashed out over the past week and will hopefully hit the Senate floor for a vote by the end of this week, includes an eight-year extension of the commercial ITC, a utility exemption repeal, a two-year extension of the residential ITC and other measures.
Most compelling is that the firmly bipartisan nature of the agreement decreases the likelihood that the legislation will be vetoed by the president, some observers have commented.
‘It was great to work with Senator Ensign to break the partisan stalemate and come up with these critically needed clean energy sources,’ Cantwell noted. ‘This will create at least 400,000 new jobs in the U.S. solar industry alone over the next eight years.’
‘I appreciate the hard work that Senators Cantwell and Ensign put into this effort,’ Reid commented.
