WIND PRAISES OBAMA SOTU, CALLS FOR PTC EXTENSION

President Obama’s State of the Union: U.S. leads world in wind energy production

January 20, 2015 (American Wind Energy Association)

President Obama highlighted U.S. wind energy as an American success story, noting that the U.S. produces more wind energy than any other country in the world, a dominance due to U.S. wind turbines’ being nearly twice as productive as those in China and Germany…Iowa is helping the nation achieve this global leadership position by leading the U.S. in the percentage of electricity the state generates from wind power…and wind is one of the few things newly elected Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and President Obama agree on…Late last year, the key federal incentive for wind investment, the Production Tax Credit (PTC), was extended for only two weeks before expiring again on December 31. Wind’s costs have dropped more than 50 percent over the past five years, thanks to the productivity and innovation driven by performance-based incentives like the renewable energy PTC. Uncertainty about it is harmful for business, and puts 50,000 U.S. wind industry jobs, with 500 manufacturing facilities in 43 states and an annual average investment of over $17 billion, at risk, especially because wind will be key in states’ compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) first-ever proposed rule to reduce carbon pollution at existing power plants. click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet