What I Didn’t Do Before My Summer Vacation

Despite the efforts of advocacy groups, trade associations and public-interest groups, including over 3500 Solar Citizens, Congress failed this week for the eighth time since June 2007 to pass legislation extending tax credits for ordinary Americans investing in renewable energy.

In parliamentary language, the motion to invoke cloture on the bill (S.3335) was defeated on the Senate floor by a vote of 51-43. In everyday language, Democrats and Republicans could not, after all this time, come to agreement on whether the clean energy tax credits should or should not be funded by tax revenue garnered elsewhere. In this standoff, Senate Republicans were standing squarely with the Bush Administration, which firmly believes they should not.

With but a week to run before Congress’ August recess, it seems likely that our senators will vacate Washington next Friday without resolving this vital piece of business. And as for hoping they’ll do a better job in September, let’s not forget that thirty of them will be focused on a re-election race in their home state in November, rather than business on the Senate floor.

It’s not Solar Nation’s role to throw blame at one political party or another, but given that our senators have had over a year to get this vital legislation enacted and have signally failed to do so, we can legitimately label this Congress as non-functioning, impotent, and of no use to the American people. The losers, as always, are the people, made to stand at the very back of the line as their representatives in government scrap with each other for first place.

We’d like to say how much we admire our elected legislators in Washington.

No, really, we’d like to be able to say that. Trouble is……