More than 75,000 people work in America’s wind industry, and another 20,000 people work in 400 facilities making wind turbine components. Congress needs to take immediate action to renew the Production Tax Credit for America’s wind energy.

However, failure to act on these important tax credits threatens the very jobs we need right now.

Production Tax Credit

The American Wind Energy Association estimates that the PTC will allow the wind industry to grow from the current 75,000 jobs to over 100,000 jobs in four years and continue toward supporting 500,000 jobs by 2030. Without the PTC, the industry stands to lose 35,000 American jobs.=

Investment Tax Credit for Offshore Wind

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the American offshore wind industry could see 43,000 permanent jobs through 54 GW of capacity.

48C Advanced Energy Project Credit

At the time of creation, the White House estimated 48C would create more than 17,000 jobs. The investment was planned to be matched by as much as $5.4 billion in private sector funding, which could support up to 41,000 additional jobs.

Section 1603 Grant

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory analysis estimates that up to 75,000 direct and indirect jobs and up to $44 billion in total economic output were supported by the design, manufacturing, construction, and installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind projects funded by the 1603 Treasury grant program. In addition, the study estimates that the operation and maintenance of these solar and wind facilities will continue to sustain up to $1.8 billion per year in economic output over the lifetime of the facilities (20 – 30 years).
All four of these are vital job-creating policies that should be renewed. Get the facts from our fact sheets and other links and do your part to push Congress to quit playing politics and start creating and saving American jobs. 

Labor-enviro coalition targets key lawmakers with tour promoting PTC
Greenwire (subscription required), September 25, 2012
A coalition of labor unions and environmental groups started a multi-state tour today to urge key Republican lawmakers to renew a key wind tax credit, warning that scrapping it will kill thousands of jobs. “Congress must renew the production tax credit,” said David Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance. “The lives of real Americans are being disrupted; jobs are at stake as well as future environmental performance.”

Labor Calls For Passage of Renewable Tax Credit
90.5 WESA, September 25, 2012
Ryan Motel was furloughed this year from his job making turbine parts at a Gamesa plant in Ebensburg Pennsylvania when demand for the company’s product slipped.  In all 73 workers from that plant and 165 Gamesa workers in Pennsylvania were sent home.  While Motel said the company did not tell him directly that the slowdown was a result of congress not taking action on the renewable electricity production tax credit, he said “[Gamesa] beat around the bush, that’s what it was.”

Jobs on the line as wind tax credit hangs in the breeze
Midwest Energy News, September 12, 2012
Every week this fall, 170 workers will toil in the farm fields north of Elwood, Indiana. But they’re not growing corn or soybeans. Instead, a major construction project is under way on these 1,700 acres of central Indiana farmland. The goal: build more than 100 wind turbines, each 30 stories tall, and get them running by midnight on December 31, when the wind production tax credit expires.

Workers Call on State Leaders to Save Jobs
FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT, August 29, 2012
Environmental and labor workers called on state leaders to save jobs. They gathered at Bayfront Park urging Congressmen Chip Cravaack and Sean Duffy to fight for a production tax credit, that supports the wind industry, to be extended. 

CEQ’s Sutley, Turbine Manufacturers Urge Congress to Renew Production Tax Credit (Subscription required)
Bloomberg, August 29, 2012
The soon-to-expire production tax credit for wind energy has helped manufacturers, and extending it is critical to the success of the industry and the revitalization of the American economy, Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said Aug. 28.    

Eaton Rapids-based executives urge wind energy tax credit extension 
Lansing State Journal, August 29, 2012
The top executives of two Eaton Rapids-based manufacturing firms say they are fighting their own political party in their effort to win support for the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit they see as “critical” to their operations. 

Vestas launches second round of job cuts with 30 layoffs in Brighton
Denver Post, August 22, 2012
Facing growing uncertainty about the fate of a key federal tax credit, Vestas Wind Systems on Monday cut about 30 workers at one of its Brighton plants, bringing the workforce to 200.

Today’s Influence Ads: Demonstration Programs
National Journal, August 2, 2012
The BlueGreen Alliance debuts a new ad as part of a larger push to renew the Production Tax Credit.

Focus turns to Finance panel as wind credit hangs in the balance
E&E News, August 2, 2012
An extension of a key tax break for the wind industry remained in flux last night, but aides said it was likely to be reinserted this morning into a bill renewing a variety of expired and expiring tax credits that will be marked up today by the Senate Finance Committee, as senators filed a number of other energy-related amendments.

Will the Tea Party Destroy an American Industry to Weaken President Obama?
Huffington Post, July 15, 2012
That theme brings me to Cleveland this week, for a two day “Making it Here” conference cosponsored by the BlueGreen Alliance and the Great Lakes Wind Network. The topic — reviving American energy manufacturing.

BlueGreen Alliance, Congressman Tim Walz Call on Congress to Renew its Commitment to Energy Independence, Create Local Jobs
Extending the tax credit would give certainty to local wind energy manufacturers who employ construction workers, technicians, welders, and numerous others in good-paying jobs across southern Minnesota and the country. The First Congressional District currently ranks 5th in United States for installed wind capacity and Minnesota wind farms produce enough sustainable energy to power nearly 1 million homes.

Walz touts wind energy jobs during Rochester visit
The Rochester Post-Bulletin, June 13, 2012
In Rochester on Tuesday, 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz called on Congress to extend tax-credit benefits for wind power projects. “The only thing we need that we’re lacking is the political will,” Walz said. 

Op Eds                                                                                          

Tax credit for wind energy must be renewed by David Foster
Toledo Blade, August 19, 2012
Ohio’s wind-energy industry has boomed over the past decade, becoming a model for the rest of the country. But that growth — and the jobs it has created — may come to a dead stop at the end of the year, if Congress fails to extend a tax credit the wind industry needs to stay competitive.

Ignoring wind power would be bad for Missouri jobs
St. Louis Dispatch, August 17, 2012
Missourians like Gerald Nickelson from New Haven are employed in the state’s fledgling wind industry and are powering a nationwide transition to cleaner energy. They’re the local heroes who work hard and are helping position America as a leader in the global race to capture renewable energy jobs. Unfortunately, right now, Gerald — a worker at CG Power Systems in Washington, Mo. — and thousands of other workers are looking over their shoulders. 

Dave Foster Talk About the the Economic Effects of Failing to Renew the PTC with Leslie Marshall (EXCERPT)
The Leslie Marshall Show, August 14, 2012

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