August 22, 2012
U.S.

GOP policy platform rejects wind power credit

By Peter Roper | The Pueblo Chieftain | www.chieftain.com 21 August 2012

As delegates to the Republican National Convention prepare to meet in Tampa, Fla., the party platform committee has dropped the federal wind power tax credit from its policy goals.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney does not support the tax credit, which wind power manufacturers such as Vestas, depend upon for turbine sales. The tax credit is set to expire on Jan. 1 although a group of bipartisan lawmakers from states with wind power manufacturers, including Colorado, are pushing for its extension.

Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat, sent out a statement Tuesday morning responding to the GOP platform.

“As we saw last week when Vestas decided to lay off dozens of workers at its Pueblo facility, the failure to pass the (tax credit) has real implications for Colorado and our nation,” he said. “I am disappointed that former Governor Romney and Republican leaders have ignored the voices within their own party, including the vast majority of Colorado Republicans, in choosing to exclude the (tax credit) from their platform.”

While the Romney campaign has been forthright in saying the former Massachusetts governor does not support the wind power credit, Romney himself has not. He campaigned in Iowa last week, a major wind power state, without mentioning his views on the tax credit.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/22/gop-policy-platform-rejects-wind-power-credit/