Governor's 'clean' energy tax breaks include new car incentive

Gov. Brian Schweitzer wants to waive license fees for new cars that get at least 35 miles per gallon, part of his "clean and green" energy legislation.

The governor introduced the measure Friday with sponsor state Sen. Jesse Laslovich, D-Anaconda. It includes property tax breaks for new or improved power plants, and faces legislative hearings.

Although the property tax breaks have been discussed for months, Schweitzer decided to also include the provision on license fees.

It would give people who buy a new car that meets the mileage requirement two years of free auto licenses. The state would lose about $2 million a year in license fees, Schweitzer estimated.

"We want people to consider the opportunity of decreasing their consumption of gasoline," Schweitzer said.

Republican leaders have been critical of Schweitzer for waiting so long to unveil the details of his energy proposal, but some Republicans have said they support Schweitzer's energy incentives for power plants.

Under the proposal, new coal-to-fuel plants that "sequester" the greenhouse gas pollutants will receive property tax cuts of 50 percent - from a rate of 3 percent of the taxable value to 1.5 percent. There currently are no such facilities in the state.

So-called "renewable" energy sources like wind, solar and bio-diesel facilities and equipment would also see the 3 percent to 1.5 percent cut.

Pipelines for ethanol, bio-diesel and fuel from clean coal technology would get a 75 percent property tax cut - from a rate of 12 percent to 3 percent. Similar cuts would go toward electricity lines carrying clean power.

Current coal plants would not get a tax break unless they added expensive equipment to capture the release of carbon.