An expiration date for wind energy? Tell Your Senators: Act Now to Keep Wind Power Growing 3FEB14

INSTEAD of continuing the tax breaks and subsidies for dirty fossil fuels (see my earlier post A Big Fracking Lie & Speak out against Dominion's Cove Point fracked gas export terminal 21JAN&13FEB14 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-big-fracking-lie-speak-out-against.html )
and nuclear energy we should be investing in renewable, clean energy, conservation and upgrading our national power grid, creating thousands of middle class wage jobs in the U.S. The Union of Concerned Scientist offers the chance for you to tell your Senators to renew the tax credit for wind energy projects, just click the link, and if you are unsure what to tell your Senators here's my letter to my Senators, Tim Kaine D VA & Mark Warner D VA.....

I am proud of the fact that our nation is now home to enough wind energy to power more than 15 million homes.

Wind energy is delivering on its promise to enhance energy security and power economic growth. Nearly 75 percent of wind turbine equipment installed in the United States is made in America, and the wind energy industry employs more than 80,000 Americans full time.

More good paying American jobs will be created once the PTC is extended, more than would be realized from the keystone xl and from continuing tax credits and subsidies for dirty fossil fuels and nuclear energy. We know our future lies with clean, renewable energy as well as investing in conservation and upgrading our national energy grid to be safer and more energy efficient.

You need to find the courage to stand up to the fossil fuel and nuclear industries and end their federal tax breaks and subsidies. Our future depends on your voting for extending the PTC for wind power and American people support this program. I am a member of the Sen Elizabeth Warren wing of Bold Progressives of the Democratic Party and I will remember your vote on this issue.

		Don't Let Wind Energy Jobs Expire Wind energy now powers millions of American homes and thousands of American jobs. But Congress has allowed the Production Tax Credit to expire, limiting wind energy's growth. Tell your senators to act now to keep wind power growing. Take Action Today! ACTION ALERT Tell Your Senators: Act Now to Keep Wind Power Growing In 2012, wind energy emerged as the nation's number one new source of electricity for the first time. But uncertainty about a key incentive for producing renewable energy—the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which was allowed to expire at the end of 2012, briefly renewed, and then allowed to expire again at the end of 2013—caused new installations of wind energy to fall more than 90 percent in 2013. Now, the future of the wind energy industry is at stake. Tell your senators to act now to extend the PTC, before thousands of clean energy jobs expire. Fossil fuel interests want Congress to end support for one of the primary drivers of wind energy, while continuing outdated subsidies for coal, natural gas, and oil. For the sake of our climate and economy, we can't let this losing scenario become reality. We need to continue to ramp up renewable energy to create new jobs, defend our health, and protect the environment. And we will. Congress has voted to renew the PTC each time it has expired in the past, but only after hearing from citizens like you who know the facts and support clean energy. We just need your senators to take the first step. Take action by contacting your senators today. Sincerely, David Anderson Outreach Coordinator Climate & Energy Program Union of Concerned Scientists
	The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future.
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Iowa’s GOP Governor Blasts Romney Campaign On Wind Tax Credits: They Need To ‘Come Out Here To The Real World’ 2AUG12

ANOTHER example how romney's policies are going to hurt our economy, our environment and the people who have been duped into supporting him. I am sure if enough repiglican politicians and their corporate masters had more money invested in wind turbines there wouldn't even be a debate about extending the tax credits. But they have been bought by and are controlled by their big oil, big gas and big coal corporate masters who are reaping huge profits and tax credits. I would think a governor of a state that may loose 7000 jobs because of corporate ownership of his own political party would do more than condemn the party's corporate presidential candidate. If he has a spine he should threaten to withhold his political support and endorsement. Think Progress.....

By Stephen Lacey on Aug 2, 2012

Now that Mitt Romney’s campaign has officially declared the candidate’s desire to kill tax credits for wind while maintaining tax credits for the mature oil and gas industries, Midwestern Republicans are not happy.
Iowa Republican Representative Tom Latham said Romney’s decision “shows a lack of full understanding of how important the wind energy tax credit is for Iowa and our nation.”
And Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the man working behind the scenes to get an extension of the tax credit for wind, said he thinks “people that didn’t know what they were doing said it.”
In an interview with Radio Iowa today, Republican Governor Terry Branstad also had strong words for Romney’s campaign, saying they “need to get out here in the real world and find out what’s really going on” before abandoning support for the industry. The wind industry supports 7,000 jobs in Iowa and makes up 20 percent of the state’s electricity.
Branstad said he’d like to speak with Romney personally about the issue:

“I hope to have that opportunity….  The statement has been made by somebody involved in his campaign, not by Governor Romney. And I think there’s a confusion on their part.
“We think it needs to be continued, not forever, but it does need to be continued for a while and the result is it’s been a very good thing for Iowa in terms of 20% of our energy is now generated by wind. We now have a lot of farmers that receive rent from having wind turbines on their property and we have a lot of jobs associated with it so we think he needs to be educated as to how important this is and I’m hopeful that we can see.. they’re lumping the two together and they need to understand there is a differential… And Senator Grassley is working really hard to get this extended.”
Reporter: “But on his campaign website for months, he has called them wind mills, he doesn’t call them wind turbines and he says they are as economically unproductive as solar energy.”
Branstad: “They don’t understand. You’ve got a bunch of people that have put the website together that are a bunch of east Coast people that need to get out here in the real world and find out what’s really going on.”

The wind tax credit, which has helped the wind industry drop costs by 90 percent and compete with the heavily subsidized coal and gas sectors, is set to expire at the end of this year. Already, wind companies are laying off employees and cancelling factories. Navigant Consulting estimates that up to 37,000 jobs could be lost if the credit is allowed to expire.
Fellow Republicans aren’t just concerned about the economic impact. They’re also concerned about potential political fallout in a region where wind is such an important piece of the economy. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Iowa Republican Representative Steve King implied he thinks the tax credit issue could have an impact:
“We need to win Iowa this time. President Obama thinks it’s a must-win state for him, and I think it’s a can-win state for Mitt Romney, but this wind piece.…”
He faded off without finishing the sentence — unsure what Romney’s stance on wind will do to the candidate’s political prospects.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/02/632931/iowas-gop-governor-blasts-romney-campaign-on-wind-tax-credits-they-need-to-come-out-here-to-the-real-world/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29&mobile=nc