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It's About Time! Legislation Would Close Hummer Tax Loophole

Legislation introduced last night would finally close a loophole that allows for tax write-offs for the largest luxury SUVs. Introduced by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), who all serve on the Ways and Means Committee, as well as Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, the legislation would fix a serious mistake in the tax code that provides an additional tax incentive for business purchases of luxury SUVs weighing over 6,000 lbs. “This bill fixes a perverse, unintended incentive to buy the biggest and most polluting vehicle on the market,” said Congressman Blumenauer. Originally intended to help businesses buy necessary heavy-duty work vehicles, the “Hummer Tax Loophole” has for years allowed write-offs of anywhere from $100,000 to the current figure of $25,000 for the purchase of the largest, most gas-guzzling luxury SUVs, even as concerns over gas prices and dependence on oil have grown. The change would not affect legitimate business investments in trucks or vans, such as plumber and contractor trucks, farm vehicles, construction vehicles, flatbed trucks, cement mixers, and a variety of other vehicles as designated by the IRS. Over 30 models of SUVs […]

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Senate Committee Passes $3B Clean Energy Tax Incentives

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee has passed, by a 15-5 vote, a package of tax incentives to encourage energy efficiency, carbon sequestration and renewable energy. The package is expected to be added to the energy bill which is under consideration in the Senate. “With the right emphasis on renewable fuels and alternative energy, we can turn the corner toward energy independence for our country,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chair of the Finance Committee. Included in “The Energy Advancement and Investment Act of 2007” is a five-year extension of the clean energy production tax credit for solar and wind, new tax credits to encourage CO2 sequestration from coal and to encourage development of cellulosic ethanol, and incentives to connect renewable energy to the power grid. It also extends credits for ethanol and biodiesel production. It also extends tax credits for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles, and establishes a new credit for purchasing plug-in hybrid vehicles or converting existing vehicles to use plug-in hybrid technology. It would cost almost $10 billion to extend the renewable energy production tax credits through 2013. It authorizes $3.6 billion from 2008-2011 for clean renewable energy bonds. The bill proposes spending almost $7.5 billion on […]

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Advent Solar Raises $70M

Advent Solar, which makes solar cells and modules, has raised over $70 million in a series D funding, which it will use to ramp up production to 70 MW at its new New Mexico facility. Advent claims its back contact cells – which are also used by competitor SunPower – provide higher performance at lower cost because the design allows for simpler assembly into modules and uses much thinner slices of silicon. Its technology was developed by the U.S. government’s Sandia National Laboratories. Advent has raised a total of $110 million and has 175 employees. It is expected to hire up to 1000 employees over the next several years. Existing investors, Battery Ventures, EnerTech Capital, @Ventures, New Mexico Co-Investment Partners and Firelake Capital were joined by new investors, ZBI Ventures, Sun Mountain Capital and Globespan Capital Partners. Rusty Schmit, President and CEO of Advent Solar said, “With the strength of our new investors augmenting that of existing investors, the company is poised to become one of the leaders in the industry. The new funds will enable us to expand faster in emerging geographical markets, accelerate our product development and extend the services organization to meet the demands of our growing […]

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ReVolt Raises $13M

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Cree to Cash in on Color Kinetics Sale

Cree (Nasdaq: CREE), Color Kinetic (Nasdaq: CLRK)competitor, will also benefit from the CLRK acquisition by Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG), announced yesterday. Cree owns 4% of CLRK’s shares, making the sale the $791 million purchase price a windfall. At $34 a share, Cree will take home $29.4 million for its shares. Cree has already earned $24 million from sales of Color Kinetics stock, giving it a total of $53.4 million from its initial $12.7 million investment. Color Kinetics stock has nearly doubled in the last year.

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