Energy and Climate Debate -

With just two or three weeks before the August recess – two for the House, three for the Senate – Congress has a full schedule. The Senate will devote much of this week to the Highway bill, while the House will consider veterans, coal ash (H.R. 1734), and food labeling (H.R. 1599) legislation, among other measures.

The Senate Finance Committee will mark up tax extenders legislation July 21. The $95.6 billion package includes a two-year extension – credits that expired at the end of 2014 and going through 2016 – of the production tax credit and a dozen other energy-related tax incentives, including one to promote residential energy efficiency and another to support biofuels production, for example. The energy provisions together would cost $16.4 billion over ten years. Amendments to the measure are already flying, including offshore wind language from Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Ben Cardin (D-MD), and domestic solar language from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).