WIND JOBS AT STAKE

Wind industry says 3,000 Texas jobs could be lost if key subsidy isn’t renewed
Dave Michaels, December 8, 2010 (Dallas Morning News)

"The wind industry says it's mobilized to lobby Congress to extend a key subsidy that kept the business going during the recession. Despite having White House support, the program was left out of an agreement announced this week that would extend the Bush tax cuts, unemployment insurance, and a host of other incentives. It has sent more than $1.3 billion to wind-energy projects in Texas since 2009…

"The wind and solar industries are hoping that Democratic senators will be able to add the program to the tax package. And they are playing up the ramifications if that doesn't happen. In Texas, wind-energy developers and manufacturers may lay off 3,000 workers if the program isn't renewed for two more years, said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. Nationwide, 20,000 jobs hang in the balance…"

What happens when policies don't support growth. (click to enlarge)

"Even with the program, newly installed wind capacity will fall this year by half compared to 2009. Without the subsidy, the outlook for next year is ‘flat line or down,’ Bode said.

"AWEA noted that oil companies benefit from permanent tax credits that provide certainty for investors, while the renewable sector must lobby every couple years to preserve its subsidies…"