As I sat down to write this, I tried to think of how many different times I have written about Senate extensions of the investment tax credits and production tax credits for renewable energy in the last year. And honestly, I’m not sure – but I know it’s a lot (a few of them can be linked to below).

What I do know, is that as early as tomorrow, the Senate will vote on S. 3335, which includes an 8 year extension of the commercial and residential solar tax credit, and doubles the residential cap to $4,000.

S. 3335 (pdf) was devised by Senate Democrats to include bi-partisan must-pass provisions, such as tax relief for families and businesses affected by natural disasters this year in the Midwest and West, and an exemption on the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for middle- income families.

An eight year of the investment tax credit would give the solar industry the long term security it needs to ramp up production in the United States, which in turn, would create jobs, and limit the need for the construction of any new coal-fired power plants. If you want to see this bill pass, I urge you to take action on the investment tax credit by contacting your Senator immediately.

Other posts about federal renewable energy tax credits:

Photo: Clearly Ambiguous via flickr Under a Creative Commons License