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Extension of alternative-energy tax credits, added to the U.S. Senate’s Wall Street bailout bill, is making the measure slightly more palatable to some members of the House, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who announced her decision to vote for the bill Thursday night.

It will mean an economic boost for Arizona, said Giffords.

Industry-sponsored reports, issued before the current economic meltdown, predicted the extension would generate up to 460,000 jobs over an eight-year period, with 15,000 of those jobs created in Arizona.

At minimum, Arizona solar installers say lifting the lid on tax credits for homeowners who install electricity-generating photovoltaic panels will jump-start residential solar installations by making it possible to buy systems for a third of their actual cost and to recoup that cost in less than a decade with lower electric bills.

Giffords said she joked to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when she told her Thursday night of her decision, that she was “willing to throw myself in front of the train” for an issue that she has championed for two years.

“I’ve given eight floor speeches, sponsored or co-sponsored four bills and, as of tomorrow, will have voted for the tax credit four times,” she said in a telephone interview from Washington.

Giffords said she was also swayed by the bill’s provisions to raise the insurance caps on bank and credit union deposits and its extension of the exemption from the alternative minimum tax for an estimated 40,000 taxpayers in her district alone.

Mostly, though, said Giffords, she is voting for the bill because doing nothing is not an alternative.

“I hate this bill,” she said.

“I don’t like this rescue plan any better than any one of our constituents, but I’m not willing to stand by and let this crisis undermine our economy,” Giffords said.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D- Ariz., remains opposed to the bailout, said spokeswoman Natalie Luna, though he won’t make up his mind until he has thoroughly vetted it.