Jones calls for end to taxpayer subsidies of wind energy
by Editor | November 24, 2013 | www.ncpoliticalnews.com
by Editor | November 24, 2013 | www.ncpoliticalnews.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and a bipartisan coalition of 52 representatives called for an end to the wind production tax credit (PTC) in 2013. In a letter to Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, Congressman Jones and his colleagues explained that the PTC “is now more valuable than the price of the electricity the plants actually generate” and costs the American taxpayers roughly 6 billion dollars per year. Furthermore, there are significant concerns with wind energy’s effects on military operations and aviation – particularly troubling given the location of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point – as well as concerns over potential health problems for individuals living in the vicinity of a wind turbine. The wind tax credit is currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2013, and Congressman Jones and his colleagues are advocating against extending it.
“It is long past time for the federal government to stop forcing American taxpayers to spend billions of dollars to prop up a now-mature energy source,” said Congressman Jones. “Combined with my concerns about the effects of wind turbines on the military installations and residents of Eastern North Carolina, I fully support the expiration of the PTC at the end of this year.”
Congressman Jones is also a cosponsor of H.R. 259, the 2013 Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act (EFEPA), which would repeal a variety of taxpayer subsidies for energy activities, including wind, solar, oil, and gas. The bill has garnered support from the American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, the Club for Growth, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Freedom Action, Heritage Action, National Taxpayers Union, 60 Plus Association, and Taxpayers for Common Sense.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/24/jones-calls-for-end-to-taxpayer-subsidies-of-wind-energy/