How the Bailout Benefits the Environment

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Everyone knows the $700 billion bailout package is a boon for Wall Street. But it turns out green consumers stand to benefit too. According to Fortune and the Environmental News Network, the legislation includes a number of perks for the eco-friendly, including:

—A 30 percent tax credit for homeowners who install solar panels after December 31, 2008.

—A $1,000-per-kilowatt tax credit for homeowners who install wind power, with a cap of $4,000.

—Tax credits of $3,000 or more for the purchase of fuel-efficient, plug-in hybrid vehicles.

—Incentives to grow renewable fuels such as biodiesel and renewable diesel at home.

The bill also supports big businesses that go green. A 30 percent solar investment tax credit has been extended to 2016, and utility companies including PG&E and Southern California Edison can now claim this credit for large-scale solar power projects.

—Nikki Gloudeman

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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