January 28, 2015
Today, the Senate will vote on amendment #120 by Senator Carper, which would provide a five-year extension for tax credits for fuel cell motor vehicles and alternative fuel vehicle refueling property.
These credits were last extended retroactively for one year as part of the tax extenders package in December of 2014 and they expired on December 31st of 2014.
Fuel cell vehicles are at least 50 years old and alternative fuel vehicles are more than a century old. These types of vehicles are neither new nor novel. There is no case to be made that these credits necessary when these technology have been available for decades.
The federal government has a terrible track record at picking winners. In addition, dependence on these subsidies often stifles the kind of innovations that are necessary to make these technologies truly competitive in the marketplace.
Lastly, these tax credits act as a wealth transfer from lower income taxpaying citizens to the wealthy who can afford to purchase these kinds of vehicles.
The American Energy Alliance opposes this amendment and it will be included in our American Energy Scorecard. NO IS THE PRO-TAXPAYER, PRO-ENERGY, and PRO-INNOVATION VOTE.