Sept. 12

The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have unveiled energy tax legislation that includes an extension of renewable energy tax credits set to expire at the end of the year.

Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said they hope to bring their bipartisan tax legislation to the full Senate by the end of the month. Congress normally recesses for the year in mid-November.

The bill´s tax measures are designed to reduce America´s dependence on foreign oil and create clean energy jobs by providing credits and incentives to develop wind, solar, biofuel and carbon sequestration technologies. The cost of the package would be offset in part with reductions in tax breaks for major oil and gas companies. Existing tax breaks would remain in place for smaller independent oil and gas producers, Baucus and Grassley said.

Contact Waste News senior reporter Bruce Geiselman at (330) 865-6172 or bgeiselman@crain.com