Veterans Salute the Wind Energy Tax Credit
Dan Heyman, Public News Service-WV
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/29489-1
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(11/28/12) CHARLESTON, W.Va. - One segment of the American workforce is speaking out on behalf of wind-energy development, even in the coal states. Military veterans say their experiences in the oil-rich Middle East have convinced them that the U.S. should be doing more to encourage domestic alternative-energy sources. Some have chosen new careers in the field, including Duane Enger, who works for Gamesa in Pennsylvania. He's an Iraq War veteran who develops wind projects, and he's not shy about his interest in the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which is waiting on congressional action for renewal.
"There's 37-thousand-some-odd jobs that are on the line and, to be honest, mine's one of them. And so I'm concerned and I'm interested in seeing the Production Tax Credit be extended."
The Production Tax Credit gives a little more than two cents back to wind-power producers for every kilowatt-hour of power they generate. Enger says the uncertainty about its renewal has already prompted companies to slow or cancel wind-energy projects and lay off workers, including at his company.
Critics of the tax credit say it gives wind power an unfair and unsustainable advantage. Supporters argue that other energy industries, including coal, get much larger subsidies and have for years.
Veterans' interest in wind technology doesn't surprise Michael Breen, a former Army officer who now heads the Truman National Security Project. Breen says many of the skills learned in the military translate well to clean-energy industries, including the willingness to take on a new challenge.
"And the clean-energy sector is like that. It's a dynamic, emerging place: new solutions are being put forward that are going to make all of our lives better and make us stronger as a country. Veterans are naturally attracted to that sort of thing."
The Senate Finance Committee has approved an extension of the expiring tax credit, but the real question is whether Congress will take it up before the lame-duck session ends.
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