Extending or ending the US’s Production Tax Credit is a topic high in the minds of wind industry professionals with interests in the US, but how is it reported in US media?
Interestingly, an increasing number of US newspapers support an extended PTC. Here, we round-up some of the latest articles…
In San Angelo,Texas the Standard-Times said, “give the wind industry some certainty, and then stand back and watch the turbines spin.” In an editorial on Saturday the newspaper noted the tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour is set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress renews it. “Few disagree that failing to extend it will cause great harm to the industry just as it is beginning to flourish,” the newspaper lobbied.
US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney
While there is no doubt that the US is the number one economy in the world and its international influence — from popular culture to military power — is second to none, trying to understand the nation’s domestic political scene is far from an easy task.
Take for example recent stories regarding climate change denial, a wind power-related lawsuit, and a new poll showing the majority of Americans favour wind energy.
Last week, at the first of three scheduled Presidential TV debates, a number of newspapers and websites have reported that neither Democrat candidate Barack Obama nor Republican Mitt Romney are even speaking about climate change.
With the US national election only three months away, the country’s largest grassroots environmental organisation has come out with a report that states fossil fuel interests are spending large amounts of money attacking clean energies like wind and solar power.
Published last week, the Sierra Club’s 20-page report “Clean Energy Under Seige” said renewable energy’s strong growth and success over the past decade has made the green sector a target for unprecedented new attacks from oil, coal, and gas interests.
Nancy Sutley, White House Council on Environmental Quality
As US citizens prepare for the summer season and federal politicians lobby for votes in the upcoming November election, an increasingly acrimonious debate over extending the nation’s main wind power incentive continues.
On Monday, Nancy Sutley, President Barack Obama’s principal environmental advisor and Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, joined other politicians in Saint Paul, Minnesota to highlight the need for Congress to extend the existing Production Tax Credit (PTC).
While the US experienced a significant dip in new installed wind power capacity last year due to the ongoing financial crisis, polarised politics and concerns over federal tax incentives, the industry has robustly bounced back, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reports.
Not only that, but wind energy is now more affordable than ever as new installations are saving customers money on their electric bills while utilities rush to lock in long-term favourable rates.