Tax Incentives for “Going Green”
Today I read an article in Business Week Magazine about some Tax incentives offered for those who build houses that follow energy efficient standards. According to Business Week, The Energy Policy Act of 2009 offers federal tax credits of $1.80 per square foot on all projects that meet ASHRAE standards. ASHRAE is The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The article also mentioned that businesses can receive up to 10% tax credits for employing solar technologies. The Department of Energy also hands out grants for businesses that experiment with new energy-efficient technologies. New York was the first state to have implemented these tax incentives in 2005, and they gave away $25 million between 2005 and 2009. I think these tax incentives are a great idea. In a world where the population grows exponentially every year, we need to start taking better care of the planet we live on. It would be great if every home being built could follow the energy efficiency standards. We could save our planet and save some money at the same time! A lot of people don’t really realize how hard we are on our planet, and something needs to be done about this! I would estimate that we will see a lot of government incentives in the future for people who are “going green.” It seems to be a common theme among people today and hopefully more and more people will start to join in! After seeing Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth,” I seriously thought about what I can do to help our environment. It really made me think that every little bit can help. Save the Polar Bears!!
