Wyden calls for tax reform to ‘shake the carbon habit’

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., renewed his call for reforming the tax code to better support investment and innovation in clean energy during Tuesday’s U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on the electricity sector in a changing climate.

Wyden highlighted his proposal to replace the current 44 separate energy tax breaks with a simpler set of long-term, performance-based energy tax incentives that are technology-neutral and promote clean energy in the United States in an exchange with Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and witness at today’s hearing.

“Smart tax policy would really generate growth and innovation in clean energy in the years ahead,” Wyden said. “As the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, I’ve proposed taking the more than 40 energy tax provisions that are on the books now–which subsidize the dirty energy relics of yesteryear–and throw them in the trash, substituting one for clean energy, one for clean transportation fuel and one for energy efficiency. This will make a real difference in promoting innovation, cleaner energy and helping us to shake the carbon habit.”

Video is available here.