The Congress must not forget, or worse still, ignore, the need to finish work on the important energy efficiency tax incentives that either have already expired or are about to expire as they rush to 'bail out' the financial services industry and adjourn.

Washington, D.C., September 29th, 2008 - The Alliance to Save Energy today strongly urged House and Senate leaders to complete action on the extension of energy efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives before adjourning for the upcoming elections.

"We have arrived at 'one minute to midnight' for the tax extenders," said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. "The Congress must not forget, or worse still, ignore, the need to finish work on the important energy efficiency tax incentives that either have already expired or are about to expire as they rush to 'bail out' the financial services industry and adjourn.

"Congress is preparing to pass one of the largest pieces of legislation in a century to bail out Wall Street and, with that in mind, it is unthinkable that Congress would adjourn before providing critical tax incentives to 'Main Street' to help consumers facing a lagging economy and growing energy costs and the nascent clean energy industry, so that it can create new jobs and help to build a new 'green' economy."

The Alliance has estimated that the average U.S. household will spend a total of about $6,150 this year on energy, including $2,350 on home energy and nearly $4,000 on gasoline.

Callahan continued, "We are in the waning hours of the 110th Congress, and, despite the overwhelming bipartisan support for the tax extenders that has been demonstrated in countless votes this year in the House and Senate, we are still on the verge of adjournment with no extension in place."

The Senate passed tax extenders legislation last week by a vote of 93-2, but the bill has stalled in the House of Representatives because of a disagreement between the two chambers over whether and how to pay for the incentives. The Senate-approved legislation would extend provisions that have expired or are about to expire, including tax incentives for consumers and building owners who install energy-efficient products; builders of energy-efficient new homes and commercial buildings; and manufacturers of certain energy-efficient appliances.

The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, economy, and national security.