Wind companies want taxpayer help (Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy)
The wind power industry has been growing.
But to keep growing, wind companies want more
taxpayer help. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
The wind power industry has been growing.
But to keep growing, wind companies want more
taxpayer help. Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Some of the recent growth in wind generation is being fueled by a national
production tax credit. It’s due to expire at the end of this year.
The American Wind Energy Association is asking the public to encourage Congress to renew the
credit.
Association spokesman Jeff Anthony says, without the tax break, there’d be a slow down in new
wind projects and a potential loss of jobs.
“The longer it takes, the more in danger we’re putting the jobs in the wind industry at risk from a
drop-off in activity, both in project installations and in new manufacturing installations in this
country. So we need the PTC extended as soon as possible.”
Anthony acknowledges there’s a dispute in Congress over how to pay for the credit. Some
critics call the production tax credit ‘corporate welfare’.
For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.