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Joseph Romm<\/a> (#8 in our December Top Ten Ranking<\/a> and #7 in the November ranking<\/a>)\u00a0 was on Capitol Hill Tuesday testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on how to use energy tax incentives to establish a U.S. green job economy. His comprehensive testimony calls for an extension of ongoing stimulus-funded measures, including the very popular 1603 direct cash grants.\u00a0 We’ve read through Romm’s testimony and pulled out the portion where he calls for a long-term clean energy tax manufacturing tax credit, which he says should be expanded for at least another five – to – 10 years.<\/em><\/p>\n – by Joseph Romm, Center for American Progress<\/p>\n One of the most critical things we can do to foster domestic clean energy industries in this country is realize that demand-side incentives for electricity production is not enough. While incentives that target utilities to encourage them to invest in clean energy infrastructure are an essential component of a comprehensive strategy, they are not enough. You cannot build a market out of demand alone, you must also create incentives for supply. That is why Congress was wise to implement the Section 48C Manufacturing Tax Credits for investments in manufacturing facilities and production capacity for the clean energy equipment and technology.<\/p>\n However, the program, passed under the Recovery Act, was limited to $2.3 billion, and was oversubscribed by nearly a 10-1 ratio. My colleagues at the Center for American Progress have advocated for an expansion of the program, and Vice President Biden in December 2009 announced the administrations plans to add an additional $5 billion to the program, leveraging, an additional $15 billion in private capital.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Congress should recognize that each and every opportunity to create incentives for homegrown manufacturing of clean energy technologies are opportunities to grow our economy and make our indsutries more competitive internationally. Each opportunity should be nourished, and this program should be expanded to provide a stable flow of incentives for a fixed period of time, maybe 5 or 10 years, and then sunset.<\/p>\n