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Continues next page >> By Jon Hurdle
That's fine with Governor Romney, who says he would allow the credit to expire and end other renewable-energy subsidies in order to foster more competition between all forms of energy. The four letter word: "jobs"
"We're at a moment right now when homegrown energy, like wind energy, is creating new jobs all across Iowa and all across the country," Obama said in speech in Iowa last week, a leading wind-producing state. "And guess what? Governor Romney said let's get rid of tax credits for wind-energy production." Faced with the policy uncertainty, some makers of wind technology have already been laying off workers. They include 182 at Vestas, a leading manufacturer of wind turbines; and 167 workers who will lose their jobs at DMI in Tulsa, Oklahoma by November, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association. "Unfortunately, the industry has begun letting workers go up and down our manufacturing supply chain," said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. On the same day that President Obama visited Iowa, the Department of Energy released a report saying wind power contributed almost a third of all new electric capacity last year, and accounted for $14 billion in new investment.
A spokeswoman for Romney said he supports concentrating alternative energy funding on basic research but does not favor supporting specific industries. "He does not believe we should be in the business of picking winners and losers or steering investment toward politically favored approaches," she said. Governor Romney's opposition to the PTC is at odds with some fellow Republicans on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, who voted on Aug. 2 to extend the credit until the end of 2013, as well as extending dozens of other tax incentives, in a 19-5 vote that PTC supporters say is a clear signal of bipartisan support for the measure. Continues on page 2 >>
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