Good News: Wind Energy Policy Moves Forward in the Senate

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Aaron Severn" <grassroots@awea.org>
Date: Apr 8, 2014 1:18 PM
Subject: Good News: Wind Energy Policy Moves Forward in the Senate
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Dear Daniel, I am pleased to let you know that late last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill to extend a host of expired and expiring tax provisions, including the renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC).   The extension would let wind energy developers qualify for the tax credits if they start construction on their wind projects by the end of 2015.   The next step in the legislative process will be for the bill, entitled the Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act of 2014, to move to the Senate floor for consideration. Like their colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate Finance Committee expressed their desire to address tax reform in a comprehensive fashion, rather than through short-term bills like this one.  Chairman Wyden (D-OR) declared that this will be the last time that the Committee works on tax extension provisions, as they plan to pivot to comprehensive tax reform in the future. In response to an amendment introduced by Sen. Toomey (R-PA) that proposed to eliminate the PTC and several other tax provisions, Sen. Grassley (R-IA) gave a powerful speech that put energy tax credits in context.   I invite you to watch the video clip.  After listing the incentives available to other energy sources, Sen. Grassley asked, “Why is repealing a subsidy for oil and gas or nuclear energy production ‘a tax increase on energy producers and consumers’ while repealing an incentive on alternative renewable energy is not?  This is all part of an intellectually dishonest argument.”   People often ask about renewable energy getting preferential treatment from the government over other industries, so I thought you would be interested in hearing this honest response from the Senator.  Please share it with your friends and family if you think they’d be interested in seeing it. Thank you very much for your consistent support!  I will be sure to let you know when wind policy is next up for consideration. Sincerely, Aaron Aaron Severn Interim Vice President, Federal Legislative Affairs American Wind Energy Association

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