WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, below is an exclusive article from The Washington Post spotlighting the effort by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Representatives Ted Poe (R-TX-02) and Mike Thompson (C-CA-05), among other cosponsors, to level the playing field for clean energy. Today, Coons, Moran, Poe, and Thompson are re-introducing the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, which will give investors in a range of clean energy projects access to a decades-old corporate structure whose tax advantage is currently available only to investors in fossil-fuel based energy projects.

The Washington Post: The Energy 202: Tax debate opens door for renewables to get same break as fossil fuels

By Dino Grandoni 

As solar and wind power make up a small but increasing share of U.S. electricity generation, at least one member of the Trump administration has pointed out that the renewable energy sources are propped up by federal tax subsidies. 

“I’d let them stand on their own and compete against coal and natural gas and other sources,” Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt said of solar and wind energy this month.

Left unmentioned are the several ways in which the U.S. government subsidizes fossil-fuel energy. 

One of the biggest boons for the oil-and-gas sector is the use of a legal entity called a master limited partnership, or MLP, which allows firms to lighten their tax loads and get easier access to investment in pipelines and other projects.

Now a group of bipartisan senators wants to let alternative sources of energy use that investment and tax vehicle, too.

On Wednesday, Sens. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) will introduce a bill designed to allow firms building wind turbines, solar farms and other alternative energy projects to use MLPs.

The legislation has been introduced in past Congresses, but had always been delayed until a larger tax package is under consideration.

“For the previous two Congresses, I’ve been blessed to have great partners in both the House and the Senate,” Coons said in an interview with The Energy 202. “But at the end of the day, the chairs and ranking [members] of [the House] Ways and Means and [Senate] Finance,” the two committees with dominion over tax policy, “told all of us, 'You have to wait for comprehensive tax reform.' " 

Now, that moment seems to be here.

Read the full article here.

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