AWEA hails Council on Jobs and Competitiveness endorsement of Production Tax Credit

Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, issued the following statement today on the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness Road Map to Renewal report’s endorsement of extending the Production Tax Credit for wind energy — which is the top legislative goal of the U.S. wind industry, to keep Americans working in wind energy.
 
WASHINGTON—Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, issued the following statement today on the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness Road Map to Renewal report’s endorsement of extending the Production Tax Credit for wind energy — which is the top legislative goal of the U.S. wind industry, to keep Americans working in wind energy.

The jobs council’s report recommends that: “Making the R&D tax credit permanent and extending production tax credits will also promote the type of innovation and investment America needs to diversify its generation portfolio and prepare for rising levels of energy demand.” (p. 31)

Bode said, “This endorsement of an extension for wind energy’s key Production Tax Credit (PTC) is yet another indication of how vital wind power has become as a source of American jobs and how important fast action on the PTC is to keeping this economic success story going. Business leaders such as the members of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness recognize that wind power has installed more than a third of all new electric generation in recent years, and has created one of America’s fastest growing manufacturing sectors. With a stable PTC, the wind industry is poised to grow to almost 100,000 jobs four years from now and stay on track to support 500,000 American jobs by 2030, as projected during the George W. Bush administration.” 

The jobs council’s endorsement joins a growing bipartisan list of Production Tax Credit supporters, including 11 Republican House co-sponsors, a coalition of more than 370 members — including groups such as National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Edison Electric Institute, and the Western Governors’ Association — as well as the bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, comprised of 23 Republican and Democratic governors from across the U.S.

The full report from the jobs council can be found here: http://files.jobs-council.com/files/2012/01/JobsCouncil_2011YearEndReportWeb.pdf