This page contains letters signed by elected officials, usually written to the President or relevant members of Congress.

15_Lt_Wind on Aug 13, 2014

"We offer our full support for allowing the most anti-competitive and economically harmful tax provisions, specifically the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), to expire. Extending the wind PTC is a key priority for the Obama Administration and its efforts to prop up wind and other favored "green energy" technologies. Under President Obama, federal subsidies for wind have grown from $476 million per year when he first took office to $4.98 billion per year today. A one-year extension of the wind PTC would cost American taxpayers over $13.35 billion. [which] has caused significant price distortions in wholesale electricity markets.

"The value of the Wind PTC today it is worth 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour produced. A wind project that "begins construction" in 2013 could receive subsidies until 2026. By ending this program now we will have given the wind industry a more than generous phase-out for a credit that is being awarded to a mature technology with over 61,100 megawatts of generation installed across the country and 13,400 megawatts under development in 21 states. Over 43% of all electric generation nameplate capacity additions in 2012 were from wind, overtaking natural-gas fired generation as the leading source of new power generation."

OnTheIssues note: The wind PTC subsidy will likely stay in place as long as Obama is president. In general, Democrats support alternative energy credits such as the PTC (which also applies to biomass and geothermal energy), although some Democrats from coal states or oil states oppose the PTC. The Republican signatories of this letter complain about the $5B annual subsidy for renewable energy--but they ignore fossil fuels subsidies including: $3B for fossil fuel tax subsidy; $1B for fossil energy R&D; and a $7B annual subsidy for oil & gas exploration. Also see a letter from 53 Senators to the President

Participating counts on VoteMatch question 18. Question 18: Prioritize green energy Scores: -2=Strongly oppose; -1=Oppose; 0=neutral; 1=Support; 2=Strongly support.
• Topic: Energy & Oil
• Headline: Let wind energy production tax credit expire (Score: -2)
• Headline 2: Let wind energy production tax credit expire (Score: -2)
  
  Participating counts on AmericansElect question 2.
• Headline: Let wind energy production tax credit expire (Answer: D)
• Headline 2: Let wind energy production tax credit expire (Answer: D)
• AmericansElect Quiz Question 2 on Energy: When you think about America’s energy needs, which of the following solutions comes closest to your opinion?
  • A: Strong investment in renewable energy like wind and solar
  • B: More drilling than investment in renewables (mix of both solutions)
  • C: More investment in renewable than drilling (mix of both solutions)
  • D: Strong focus on offshore drilling and allowing drilling in federal lands including wildlife reserves
  • E: Unsure
  
  
  
• Key for participation codes:
• Sponsorships: p=sponsored; o=co-sponsored; s=signed
• Memberships: c=chair; m=member; e=endorsed; f=profiled; s=scored
• Resolutions: i=introduced; w=wrote; a=adopted
• Cases: w=wrote; j=joined; d=dissented; c=concurred
• Surveys: '+' supports; '-' opposes.