PRESS RELEASE - CITIZENS URGE CONGRESS TO STOP THE WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT
CITIZENS URGE CONGRESS TO OPPOSE THE EXTENSION OF
THE WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT
Maine residents join nearly 6,500 others nationwide in saying no to the wind PTC
Oquossoc, December 27, 2012
More than 200 Maine residents have joined nearly 6,500 citizens in 25 states in signing letters urging Congress to oppose any extension of the wind energy production tax credit (“PTC”) due to expire at the end of this year. More than 200 U.S. Senators and Members of Congress received the letter.
"We are very much aware that Congress is under pressure from the recipients of these subsidies to renew the PTC. We are asking our elected Representatives to resist that pressure and let the PTC end on schedule, " said Dr. Monique Aniel, a member of the Citizens Task Force on Wind Power, who coordinated the letter campaign in Maine. "Renewing the PTC would cost billions that our nation simply cannot afford, without any material benefit to the economy."
It has been evident for years that government support for wind energy development is very costly, and has utterly failed to establish industrial-scale wind as a self-sustaining contributor to meeting our energy needs.
These letters emphasize that since the PTC was first introduced in 1992, the federal government has provided $40 billion to the industrial wind energy industry in tax credits and cash grants, with these costs increasing dramatically in recent years. This government money which is drawn from other taxpayers and, of course, borrowed in domestic and international government bond markets, exacerbates the already-excessive cost of wind energy to consumers and the public. Policies in many states now compel utilities to use renewable energy at prices significantly above market price and, in addition, provide extensive local tax breaks.
Like so many communities across the United States, large areas of Maine are being targeted by the wind industry following the passage in 2008 of Governor Baldacci’s Emergency Bill, known as the Expedited Wind Power Act. The bill spent only 15 days in the legislature, with “suspension of the rules” every step of the way, and did not receive the scrutiny or debate that such sweeping legislation deserves.
The EWP Act repealed decades old regulations which protected the mountain tops from inappropriate development. As a consequence of this law, dozens of high value landscapes have been targeted for wind projects while citizens’ voices have been ignored. And as more projects are constructed more families are becoming the innocent victims of noise from turbines placed too close to their homes.
"There is no plausible justification for continuing this spending, and certainly not when the nation is facing the huge debt and deficits prevailing today," the group wrote.
To read the entire letter (without signatures), click here.
The letter was sent to the following United States Senators:
AZ: Sen. John McCain Sen. Jon Kyl
CA: Sen. Dianne Feinstein Sen. Barbara Boxer
HI: Sen. Dan Inouye Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka
ID: Sen. Mike Crapo Sen. James Risch
IL: Sen. Dick Durbin Sen. Mark Kirk
IN: Sen. Richard G. Lugar Sen. Dan Coats
KS: Sen. Pat Roberts Sen. Jerry Moran
ME: Sen. Olympia Snowe Sen. Susan Collins
MA: Sen. John Kerry Sen. Scott Brown
MD: Sen. Barbara Mikulski Sen. Ben Cardin
MI: Sen. Debbie Stabenow Sen. Carl Levin
MN: Sen. Amy Klobuchar Sen. Al Franken
NC: Sen. Richard Burr Sen. Kay Hagan
NH: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen Sen. Kelly Ayotte
NJ: Sen. Robert Menendez Sen. Frank Lautenberg
NV: Sen Harry Reid Sen Dean Heller
NY: Sen. Chuck Schumer Sen. Gillibrand
OH: Sen. Sherrod Brown Sen. Rob Portman
PA: Sen. Pat Toomey Sen. Robert Casey
RI: Sen. Jack Reed Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
VA: Sen. Mark Warner Sen. Jim Webb
VT: Sen. Patrick Leahy Sen. Bernie Sanders
WI: Sen. Herb Kohl Sen. Ron Johnson
WV: Sen. Jay Rockefeller Sen. Joe Manchin
WY: Sen. Mike Enzi Sen. John Barrasso
The letter was sent to the following United States Representatives:
ARIZONA
Rep. Paul Gosar Rep. Trent Franks Rep. Ben Quayle
Rep. Ed Pastor Rep. David Schweikert Rep. Jeff Flake
Rep. Raul M. Grijalva Rep. Ron Barber
CALIFORNIA
Rep. Howard L. Berman Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Rep. Duncan D. Hunter Rep. Jeff Denham Rep. Brad Sherman
Rep. Devin Nunes Rep. Jerry Lewis Rep. Edward R. Royce
Rep. John Campbell Rep. Bob Filner Rep. Tom McClintock
Rep. Wally Herger Rep.David Dreier Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep. Nancy Pelosi Rep. Daniel E. Lungren Rep. Elton Gallegly
Rep. Lois Capps Rep. Loretta Sanchez Rep. Howard P. McKeon
Rep. Darrell Issa Rep. Anna G. Eshoo Rep. Henry A. Waxman
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Rep. Doris 0. Matsui Rep. John Garamendi
Rep. Jim Costa Rep. Adam Schiff Rep. Gary G. Miller
Rep. Barbara Lee Rep. Sam Farr Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey
HAWAII
Rep. Hirono
Rep. Hanabusa
IDAHO
Rep. Labrador
Rep. Simpson
ILLINOIS
Rep. Schilling Rep. Schock Rep. Johnson
Rep. Hultgren Rep. Kinzinger Rep. Manzullo
Rep. Judy Biggert
INDIANA
Rep. Peter J. Visclosky Rep. Joe Donnelly Rep. Marlin Stutzman
Rep. Todd Rokita Rep. Dan Burton Rep. Mike Pence
Rep. Andre Carson Rep. Larry Bucshon Rep. Todd Young
KANSAS
Rep. Tim Huelskamp
Rep. Lynn Jenkins
Rep. Kevin Yoder
Rep. Mike Pompeo
MAINE
Rep. Chellie Pingree
Rep. Mike Michaud
Sen. Olympia Snowe
Sen. Susan Collins
MARYLAND
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer
Rep. Elijah Cummings
MASSACHUSETTS
Rep. John Olver Rep. William Keating Rep. Richard Neal
Rep. Michael Capuano Rep. Barney Frank Rep. John Tierney
Rep. Ed Markey Rep. Jim McGovern Rep. Stephen Lynch
Rep. Niki Tsongas
MICHIGAN
Rep. David Camp
Rep. Dan Benishek
Rep. Timothy Walberg
Rep. Frederick Upton
Rep. Dale Kildee
MINNESOTA
Rep. Michele Bachmann Rep. John Kline Rep. Erik Paulsen
Rep. Betty McCollum Rep. Keith Ellison Rep. Tim Walz
Rep. Collin Peterson Rep. Chip Cravaack
NORTH CAROLINA
Rep. Virginia Foxx
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Rep Charlie Bass
Rep Frank Guinta
NEW JERSEY
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen
NEVADA
Rep. Berkley
Rep. Amodei
Rep. Heck
NEW YORK
Rep. Jerrold Nadler Rep. Tom Reed Rep. Chris Gibson
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Rep. Bill Owens Rep. Kathy Hochul
Rep. Paul Tonko Rep. Richard L. Hanna Rep. Brian Higgins
Rep. Louise Slaughter
OHIO
Rep. Bob Latta Rep. Jim Jordan Rep. Marcy Kaptur
Rep. Michael R. Turner Rep. Steve Austria Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. James Renacci Rep. Patrick Tiberi Rep Steve Stivers
Rep. Steve Chabot Rep. Jean Schmidt Rep. Bill Johnson
Rep. Marcia L. Fudge Rep. Betty Sutton Rep. Tim Ryan
Rep. Steven C. LaTourette Rep. Bob Gibbs
PENNSYLVANIA
Rep. Lou Barletta Rep. Mark Critz Rep. Tim Holden
Rep. Glenn Thompson Rep. Bill Shuster Rep. Mike Kelly
Rep. Allyson Schwartz Rep. Todd Russell Platts
RHODE ISLAND
Rep. David Cicilline
Rep. Jim Langevin
VIRGINIA
Rep. Bob Goodlatte
Rep. Morgan Griffith
Rep. Frank R. Wolf
Rep. Eric Canton
VERMONT
Rep. Peter Welch
WISCONSIN
Rep. Paul Ryan Rep. Tammy Baldwin Rep. Ron Kind
Rep. Gwen Moore Rep. James Sensenbrenner Rep. Tom Petri
Rep. Sean Duffy Rep. Reid Ribble
WEST VIRGINIA
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito
Rep. David McKinley
Rep. Nick Rahall
WYOMING
Rep. Cynthia Lummis
The following members of the Senate and House leadership also received the letter:
House Speaker John Boehner Rep. Eric Cantor Rep. Kevin McCarthy Rep. David Camp Rep. Sander Levin
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Sen. Max Baucus
Sen. Orrin Hatch
###
For media inquiries, please contact:
Dr. Monique Aniel
Citizen’s Task Force on Wind Power
PO Box 345 Oquossoc, ME 04964
email sherwats2@wildblue.net
Views: 347
Comment
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Comment by alice mckay barnett on December 28, 2012 at 10:33am
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Thank You for doing all this leg work...a question? A reason for a statewide moratorium? please?
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Comment by Penny Melko on December 28, 2012 at 2:28am
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Who wrote the letter and sent it to all of the Senators??? This is very direct - love it.
If the PTC is extended even one more year, my gloves are off against our government, for allowing our forests, deserts and lake sides to become wastelands.
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
Not yet a member?
Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?
We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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