The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
As part of his Congressional To-Do List, the President is calling on Congress to pass legislation that will extend the Production Tax Credit, which has drawn strong bipartisan support from governors, members of Congress, and industry.
Tomorrow the President will travel to TPI Composites in Newton, Iowa where he will highlight steps Congress can take right now to create American jobs, and support American companies and manufacturers – all while continuing to increase clean energy production here at home.
As part of his Congressional To-Do List, the President will call on Congress to pass legislation that will extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) – which provides an important tax credit to utility-scale wind producers in the United States – alongside an expansion of the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit that supports American-made clean energy manufacturing in towns and cities across the country. According to industry estimates, the wind industry supports nearly 20,000 direct jobs along with over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in its supply chain, and some in industry have estimated that without extending the PTC, as the President is calling for, up to 37,000 jobs could be lost.
That means real impacts for companies, communities, and families in states across the country. Given that, it’s no surprise that the actions that President is calling for have strong bipartisan support from governors, members of Congress, as well as industry. Let’s take a look:
Letter to the Editor By Gov. Terry E. Branstad(R-IA) in The Wall Street Journal:: “The Production Tax Credit was originally developed and enacted into law with strong bipartisan support that continues today. Congress should act urgently to extend the PTC and provide the certainty wind companies need to continue investing in Iowa's and the nation's future.”
Letter from Gov. Terry E. Branstad (R-IA) and Gov. Sam Brownback(R-KS) to members of Congress:
“It is a tax policy that has been successful, and we urge you to act expeditiously to extend the wind energy PTC.”
Op-Ed by Gov. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) in The Wichita Eagle
“If we expect the wind-energy industry to provide for our country’s future energy needs and make long-term investments in their businesses, Congress must reauthorize the wind-production tax credit that expires this year. By extending the wind PTC, Congress will allow the wind industry to complete its transformation from being a high-tech startup to becoming cost-competitive in the energy marketplace.”
“However, with the PTC for wind due to expire at the end of 2012, the expansion, jobs and manufacturing of the industry is put in serious jeopardy – not just in Iowa, but across the country. We must provide some certainty to allow this industry to keep growing. If the PTC is not extended immediately, our communities back home stand to lose thousands of jobs, manufacturing and private investment. The manufacturing workers, in particular, are the first to lose their jobs as developers have already stopped ordering turbines for installation after 2012 because of uncertainty about the continuation of the credit.”
Letter from Oklahoma Governor. Mary Fallin:
As a country, we have decided to support energy diversity and development of all domestic resources,creating an “all of the above” energy strategy. The PTC plays an important role in helping to deploy technologiesthat ensure a diverse, domestic energy fleet. The PTC was originally developed and enacted into law with strong bipartisan support that continues today and is a tax policy that has been successful. The PTC should be evaluated in the future to determine its long-term viability; however, the credit needs to be extended immediately to create certainty today. I therefore urge you to act expeditiously to extend the wind energy PTC this year.”
Bipartisan Congressional Endorsements of PTC:
99 co-sponsors of HR 3307, a bill to extend the PTC for four years.
8 co-sponsors of S 2201, a bill to extend the PTC for two years.
Additional PTC Endorsements:
Letter from 370 companies and organizations, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Edison Electric Institute, to Congressional leadership
“It is urgent that we avoid the looming tax increase on wind energy, as investments are stalling now and will continue to stall, with corresponding job losses, until a bill to extend the PTC is passed.”
Letter from 15 major consumer brands, including Nike, Levi Strauss & Co., and Campbell Soup, to Congressional leadership
“Failure to extend the PTC for wind would tax our companies and thousands of others like us that purchase significant amounts of renewable energy and hurt our bottom lines at a time when the economy is struggling to recover. Extending the PTC lowers prices for all consumers, keeps America competitive in a global marketplace, and creates home grown American jobs.”
Testimony by Caroline L. Harris, US Chamber of Commerce Chief Tax Counsel and Director of Tax Policy, before the Senate Finance Committee
"When Congress fails to act, provisions such as the wind Production Tax Credit… do not operate efficiently. Industries that are in their infancy are damaged because the code provisions they need to rely on to build up are not there. The damage is real as products are not developed and projects are not undertaken…Congress must act now to extend these vital provisions."
Letter from the National Governors’ Association to Congressional leadership
“Renewable energy provides Americans with high-tech manufacturing jobs, secure sources of energy, and our states with crucial economic development opportunities. To supplement state efforts, governors support the continuation of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind and renewable energy…”
Letter from the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition to Congressional leadership
“Wind-related manufacturing is beginning to slow in our states because the credit has not yet been extended. If Congress pursues a last minute approach to the extension, the anticipated interruption of the credit’s benefits will result in a significant loss of high-paying jobs in a growing sector of the economy.”
