Earth Equity News

Another Chance for the Senate. Editorial, NYTimes, June 16, 2008. "Given a chance to do something important about global warming, the Senate fell flat on its face earlier this month when it could not even produce enough votes to have a good debate. It can begin to redeem itself, by approving a bill to extend vital tax credits for renewable fuel sources like wind and solar power... Congress has been playing legislative Ping-Pong with these credits for months. The House approves them, the Senate rejects them. The sticking point is the bill's... [so-called] offsets, which the House rightly insists on as part of its pay-as-you-go rules. In earlier incarnations, the House bill would have paid for the credits by rescinding tax breaks granted to the oil companies... The oil companies... set up a mighty howl, President Bush lofted veto threats, and the Senate caved. The House's latest version leaves the oil companies their credits, and instead seeks to raise the necessary offsets partly by closing offshore tax loopholes that benefit hedge fund managers. Yet some Senate Republicans and the White House -- ever captive to big money -- are rejecting even that... If they believe [what they say about fiscal responsibility, technological innovation and job creation, the Republicans] should stop being stubborn and approve the House bill."