Emergency Economic Stabilization Act — HR1424

It was this Act, marking the end of the marathon attempts by Congress simply to extend investment tax credits for residential and commercial clean energy installations beyond the end of 2008, that solar advocates had been fighting to get passed for a year to eighteen months.  It had become the most kicked-about of political footballs, attracting more filibuster threats than most bills have readings.  And after all that bloodletting, it would have been poetic for the bill to have passed on its own merits.

Of course, it didn’t.  The national financial meltdown that became a defining issue in the 2008 presidential election forced the passage of HR1424 in early October, and the issue was pressing enough that clean energy supporters were able to force the tax credit extension language into a bill dealing with bank bailouts.  The bill passed, of course, and less than two months before they would have expired the tax credits were, thankfully, extended.

You can read more about this process here:

http://www.solar-nation.org/2009/01/07/2008-showed-us-the-true-value-of-advocacy/