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    Source:  National Wind Watch

    Don’t Renew the PTC! 

    Source:  National Wind Watch | Action alerts, Economics, U.S.

    S.3521, the “Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012” began mark-up in the Senate Finance Committee on August 2, 2012. It initially did not include an extension of the Production Tax Credit, or PTC, after it expires at the end of 2012, but Chuck Grassley of Iowa (the original author of the PTC in 1992) introduced two amendments, one extending the PTC for 2 years, the other extending the PTC for 1 year but allowing any project having begun construction, rather than operation, to qualify. The latter was added to the bill. It includes the option of taking an immediate 30% investment tax credit instead. S.3521 passed to the larger Senate on Aug. 28, 2012, sponsored by Max Baucus of Montana.

    S.2201 extends the renewable energy credit (i.e., the PTC) for 2 years after it expires at the end of 2012. This bill was introduced by Chuck Grassley on March 16, 2012, and is now with the Senate Committee on Finance. The Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Subcommittee held a hearing on Mar. 27.

    H.R.3307, “American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011”, was introduced by David Reichert of Washington on November 2, 2011, and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. It extends the PTC for 4 years after it expires at the end of 2012. It is also being considered by the Senate Committee on Finance.

    Contact your Senators!
    Contact your Representative!
    Call the congressional switchboard at: 202-224-3121.

    The Congressional Switchboard, at 202-224-3121, will transfer your call to the office of any representative or senator. Faxes and telephone calls are generally more effective than e-mail and web contact. Letters by post are effective but can take weeks to get through security screening.

    Sample letter/telephone message:

    Please vote AGAINST any extension of the Production Tax Credit for wind energy, including its inclusion in S.3521, the “Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012” tax extenders bill, and S.2201/H.R.3307, the bills submitted by Senator Grassley and Representative Reichert.

    The PTC costs taxpayers several billion dollars annually – with no measurable positive change in our energy situation. In return, communities have been left divided, their health diminished, landscapes degraded, and natural habitats destroyed.

    Note:  The American Wind Energy Association has dedicated several million dollars to press legislators to extend their tax credits and grants. They have created a “war room” to attack the “special interests” fighting wind. Through their WindPAC, along with the PACs of individual developers, they have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to senators and representatives in Congress. We do not have multinational corporations backing us or money to pay to be listened to. All we have is our voice: loud and clear and manifold. Our special interest is only that of private citizens fighting to protect our homes and landscapes from predatory development – from a technology that doesn’t even work.

    The Production Tax Credit (PTC) currently provides 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity production for 10 years and is the primary means of tax avoidance that makes wind development so lucrative for big energy companies and investors. It is scheduled to expire for wind at the end of 2012.

    Critiques:

    Negative Electricity prices and the production tax credit:
    why wind producers can pay us to take their power – and why that is a bad thing
    ,
    by Frank Huntowski, Aaron Patterson, and Michael Schnitzer

    The wind PTC: the hidden costs of wind power (presentation), by Jonathan A. Lesser

    The wind PTC’s adverse impacts on the electric sector (presentation), by David C. Brown

    In 2010, wind developers received $5 billion in federal subsidies through the PTC and other incentive programs.

    In return, there has been no measurable effect on fossil fuel use, carbon emissions, or pollution; a pathetically small number of jobs, mostly temporary, have been created; and left in the wind developers’ wake are divided communities, lost wildlife habitat, continuing deaths of birds and bats – many of them already endangered – and destruction of rural peace and quiet and health.

    As the PTC expires, so will the availability of the Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC) to developers as an alternative to the PTC.

    Contact the following senators and representatives!
    Call the congressional switchboard at: 202-224-3121.

    Senate Committee on Finance   S.2201 Sponsor: Sen Grassley, Chuck [IA]
    Cosponsors (as of March 15, 2012):
    Sen Bennet, Michael F. [CO]
    Sen Brown, Scott P. [MA]
    Sen Franken, Al [MN]
    Sen Harkin, Tom [IA]
    Sen Heller, Dean [NV]
    Sen Johnson, Tim [SD]
    Sen Merkley, Jeff [OR]
    Sen Nelson, Bill [FL]
    Sen Udall, Mark [CO]
    Sen Wyden, Ron [OR]
    Democrats:
    John D. Rockefeller, IV, WV
    Kent Conrad, ND
    Jeff Bingaman, NM
    John F. Kerry, MA
    Ron Wyden, OR
    Charles E. Schumer, NY
    Debbie Stabenow, MI
    Maria Cantwell, WA
    Bill Nelson, FL
    Robert Menendez, NJ
    Thomas R. Carper, DE
    Benjamin L. Cardin, MD
       Republicans:
    Chuck Grassley, IA
    Olympia J. Snowe, ME
    Jon Kyl, AZ
    Mike Crapo, ID
    Pat Roberts, KS
    Michael B. Enzi, WY
    John Cornyn, TX
    Tom Coburn, OK
    John Thune, SD
    Richard Burr, NC

    A complete list of senators with links to their contact forms is available at www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

    House Committee on Ways and Means   H.R.3307 Sponsor: Rep Reichert, David G. [WA-8]
    Cosponsors (as of July 24, 2012):
    Rep Amodei, Mark E. [NV-2]
    Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2]
    Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6]
    Rep Bass, Charles F. [NH-2]
    Rep Berg, Rick [ND]
    Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1]
    Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28]
    Rep Bilbray, Brian P. [CA-50]
    Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3]
    Rep Bonamici, Suzanne [OR-1]
    Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU]
    Rep Boren, Dan [OK-2]
    Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3]
    Rep Boustany, Charles W., Jr. [LA-7]
    Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1]
    Rep Buerkle, Ann Marie [NY-25]
    Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23]
    Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11]
    Rep Chu, Judy [CA-32]
    Rep Cicilline, David N. [RI-1]
    Rep Clarke, Hansen [MI-13]
    Rep Cole, Tom [OK-4]
    Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2]
    Rep Crawford, Eric A. “Rick” [AR-1]
    Rep Critz, Mark S. [PA-12]
    Rep DeGette, Diana [CO-1]
    Rep Dent, Charles W. [PA-15]
    Rep Deutch, Theodore E. [FL-19]
    Rep Doggett, Lloyd [TX-25]
    Rep Dold, Robert J. [IL-10]
    Rep Doyle, Michael F. [PA-14]
    Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51]
    Rep Garamendi, John [CA-10]
    Rep Gerlach, Jim [PA-6]
    Rep Gibson, Christopher P. [NY-20]
    Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4]
    Rep Hahn, Janice [CA-36]
    Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23]
    Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27]
    Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22]
    Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2]
    Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15]
    Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1]
    Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2]
    Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2]
    Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30]
    Rep Johnson, Timothy V. [IL-15]
    Rep Keating, William R. [MA-10]
    Rep Kildee, Dale E. [MI-5]
    Rep Kind, Ron [WI-3]
    Rep King, Steve [IA-5]
    Rep Kissell, Larry [NC-8]
    Rep Langevin, James R. [RI-2]
    Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1]
    Rep Latham, Tom [IA-4]
    Rep LaTourette, Steven C. [OH-14]
    Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9]
    Rep Levin, Sander M. [MI-12]
    Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3]
    Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2]
    Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16]
    Rep Lucas, Frank D. [OK-3]
    Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14]
    Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7]
    Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4]
    Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4]
    Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7]
    Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3]
    Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7]
    Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11]
    Rep Miller, Brad [NC-13]
    Rep Miller, George [CA-7]
    Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8]
    Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38]
    Rep Noem, Kristi L. [SD]
    Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC]
    Rep Owens, William L. [NY-23]
    Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8]
    Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10]
    Rep Perlmutter, Ed [CO-7]
    Rep Peters, Gary C. [MI-9]
    Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7]
    Rep Pingree, Chellie [ME-1]
    Rep Platts, Todd Russell [PA-19]
    Rep Polis, Jared [CO-2]
    Rep Price, David E. [NC-4]
    Rep Quigley, Mike [IL-5]
    Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15]
    Rep Rehberg, Denny [MT]
    Rep Renacci, James B. [OH-16]
    Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4]
    Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9]
    Rep Runyan, Jon [NJ-3]
    Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1]
    Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17]
    Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9]
    Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13]
    Rep Scott, Robert C. “Bobby” [VA-3]
    Rep Sewell, Terri A. [AL-7]
    Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28]
    Rep Thompson, Mike [CA-1]
    Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6]
    Rep Tonko, Paul [NY-21]
    Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8]
    Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1]
    Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30]
    Rep Welch, Peter [VT]
    Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6]
    Rep Young, Don [AK]
    Republicans:
    Dave Camp, MI, Chairman
    Wally Herger, CA
    Sam Johnson, TX
    Kevin Brady, TX
    Paul Ryan, WI
    Devin Nunes, CA
    Pat Tiberi, OH
    Geoff Davis, KY
    Dave G. Reichert, WA
    Charles W. Boustany Jr., LA
    Peter J. Roskam, IL
    Jim Gerlach, PA
    Tom Price, GA
    Vern Buchanan, FL
    Adrian Smith, NE
    Aaron Schock, IL
    Lynn Jenkins, KS
    Erik Paulsen, MN
    Kenny Marchant, TX
    Rick Berg, ND
    Diane Black, TN
    Tom Reed, NY
       Democrats:
    Sander Levin, MI, Ranking Member
    Charles B. Rangel, NY (ex officio)
    Fortney Pete Stark, CA
    Jim McDermott, WA
    John Lewis, GA
    Richard E. Neal, MA
    Xavier Becerra, CA
    Lloyd Doggett, TX
    Mike Thompson, CA
    John B. Larson, CT
    Earl Blumenauer, OR
    Ron Kind, WI
    Bill Pascrell Jr., NJ
    Shelley Berkley, NV
    Joseph Crowley, NY

    A complete list of representatives with links to their websites is available at www.house.gov/representatives.

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