Standing up for American wind workers
Congressman Earl Blumenauer stood up for the jobs and livelihoods of over 100,000 Americans this week in front of the full House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. A longtime supporter of wind energy, Rep. Blumenauer strongly voiced his opposition to the stripped-down Production Tax Credit proposal in H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This measure, if enacted, would cancel over half of all wind projects and more than 50 percent of American wind workers would face layoffs because of broken business deals.
“I have been working on wind energy since 1999…we went through boom and bust because Congress refused to give the industry a steady, predictable path forward. [But] in 2015, on a bipartisan basis we negotiated a path forward. The wind energy industry took us at our word. But your bill retroactively repeals this agreement [and] this represents a horrible failure of the process.”
Congressman Blumenauer is a stalwart champion of the wind industry and we thank him for his persistence in speaking the facts and urging Congress to honor the 2015 deal. The wind industry plays a hugely important role in the lives of rural Americans, and provides a reliable and new source of income to farmers and ranchers. Additionally, the Production Tax Credit was the only renewable energy credit to be singled out in such a negative way, when in fact wind energy is one of the most cost-effective forms of energy across America.
Full remarks from the November 9th congressional hearing can be found here from minute 7:45 to minute 46:00.
