After billions in stimulus funding failed to transform impotent green energy sources into profitable endeavors, even Obama has taken a break from promoting Wind and Solar.  He is even talking more about oil and gas exploration, although his sincerity is in serious doubt.  Unfortunately, some Republicans have not relinquished their affinity for using public funds to prop up their local wind industry.

Yesterday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback sent a letter to the 20 members of the payroll tax cut conference committee imploring them to extend the Production Tax Cut (PTC) for Big Wind, set to expire at the end of the year.  They warned that “wind development will grind to [a] halt due to the uncertainty of a PTC extension.”

The PTC is among 51 ‘tax extenders’ that have either expired last December or are slated to expire this December.  It grants a 2.2 cent/per kilowatt-hour refundable credit for wind, solar, or geothermal.  Believe it or not, that is a large sum of money.  According to the Heritage Foundation, if the oil industry received a commensurate subsidy, they would get a $30 check for every barrel produced.  The PTC is tantamount to an Earned Income Tax Credit for corporations.

As such, the governors are probably correct to assume that Big Wind will grind to a halt without the credit.  And that’s how it should be in our free-market economy.  Why is this any different than Obama’s attempt to pick winners and losers?  Actually, in this instance, we would be picking losers as winners.  While ending the tax credit will probably bring down Big Wind, it’s not like the subsidy actually helped Wind become prosperous.  In 2010, wind accounted for 0.9% of our energy supply, geothermal 0.2%, and solar 0.1%.  Many states offered their own tax credits to the wind industry, and lost money.  In Texas, the property tax break alone cost the state $1.6 million per job created.

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After billions in stimulus funding failed to transform impotent green energy sources into profitable endeavors, even Obama has taken a break from promoting Wind and Solar.  He is even talking more about oil and gas exploration, although his sincerity is in serious doubt.  Unfortunately, some Republicans have not relinquished their affinity for using public funds to prop up their local wind industry.

Yesterday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback sent a letter to the 20 members of the payroll tax cut conference committee imploring them to extend the Production Tax Cut (PTC) for Big Wind, set to expire at the end of the year.  They warned that “wind development will grind to [a] halt due to the uncertainty of a PTC extension.”

The PTC is among 51 ‘tax extenders’ that have either expired last December or are slated to expire this December.  It grants a 2.2 cent/per kilowatt-hour refundable credit for wind, solar, or geothermal.  Believe it or not, that is a large sum of money.  According to the Heritage Foundation, if the oil industry received a commensurate subsidy, they would get a $30 check for every barrel produced.  The PTC is tantamount to an Earned Income Tax Credit for corporations.

As such, the governors are probably correct to assume that Big Wind will grind to a halt without the credit.  And that’s how it should be in our free-market economy.  Why is this any different than Obama’s attempt to pick winners and losers?  Actually, in this instance, we would be picking losers as winners.  While ending the tax credit will probably bring down Big Wind, it’s not like the subsidy actually helped Wind become prosperous.  In 2010, wind accounted for 0.9% of our energy supply, geothermal 0.2%, and solar 0.1%.  Many states offered their own tax credits to the wind industry, and lost money.  In Texas, the property tax break alone cost the state $1.6 million per job created.

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SubTitle: The Government force of Green agenda against “traditional” Energy to hit new levels of hostility (Big Govt. to push Democrat’s invested agenda) Boston Globe: Obama vows action on Global Warming and/or FoxNews: Obama Plans Meeting With Al Gore To Talk Energy.

Tuesday December 9, 2008 – President Elect (read Radical-Elect) Barack Obama flanked by Al Gore and VP-irrelevant Joe Biden discussed how the upcoming ObamaBinBiden Administration would be advancing, what to them is the undeniable truth, of Man-made Global Warming, and that the time for actions would begin immediately. According to Obama ‘we have listened to the Scientists!’ Trouble is, they ignore the new data and/or anyone that doesn’t care to push forward this Democrat POLITICAL issue/agenda!

We too believe the Scientists that (as of late) have noted that the Oceans have been COOLING the last few years. We PAY ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCE and the facts that WARMING has ceased the last half dozen years despite Al Gores insistence on his “Hockey Stick” graph that while Carbon continues to climb that Warming MUST/WILL continue. Despite their (Democrats) demagogue of this issue, the Scientists DO NOT HAVE A CONSENSUS! Many “Researchers” are more than happy to be on the band-wagon entirely because it puts Grant money into their coffers, and little to do with real science.

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