[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5677-S5678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PRODUCTION TAX CREDITS

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I rise to emphasize the importance of 
extending the production tax credits for renewable energy in the tax 
package we are voting on today at 2:15. These tax credits have helped 
create a strong and growing renewable energy industry, not only for 
wind power but also for geothermal, biomass, and landfill gas. Wind 
power, especially in a State such as Montana and across the country, is 
critically important, but we have a long way to go before renewable 
sources of energy can have the full impact on lowering energy costs and 
fighting climate change. That is why these tax credits are so very 
important.
  Last year the United States installed more than 52 hundred megawatts 
of wind power, enough to power a million and a half households for an 
entire year. Put another way, if the population--every man, woman, and 
child in Montana and Wyoming--each had their own house, there would be 
a million and a half homes.
  All that wind power was about a $9 billion investment into the 
economy. Wind now powers over 4.5 million homes in the United States. 
At this rate, the United States will overtake Germany as the world's 
leader in wind power next year, but only if we extend this tax credit. 
Unfortunately, everything grinds to a halt if the tax credits are not 
extended.
  Congress has let these tax credits lapse before. Each time we have 
seen growth in the renewable energy industry flatline. This chart shows 
exactly what happens when we refuse to extend the tax credits. Over the 
last 9 or 10 years, you can see where the high bars are, where wind 
energy megawatts have gone on. That is with the tax credits. When we 
failed to extend tax credits, we see virtually no growth in wind 
energy.
  I know a lot of my colleagues will be voting to extend these credits 
by year's end, but waiting until the last minute is just as bad as 
letting them expire. Right now wind developers are working out 
financing for future projects. They cannot move these projects forward 
without certainty. That means projects that are starting right now will 
stall if we don't re-up these tax credits today.
  We have heard a lot for the last few months about energy costs and 
climate change. Renewable energy is attractive because it can help us 
get a handle on both problems. Wind is getting more and more affordable 
and more efficient each year, especially as fossil fuel costs go 
up. The wind power capacity added last year accounted for 30 percent of 
all new energy brought online. Because of the wind, we are keeping 28 
million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air. That is 28 million tons. 
There is no more efficient way to help fight climate change than by 
supporting the tax credits that drive renewable energy. It is just 
common sense.

  Last month, the Department of Energy reported that the United States 
can get 20 percent of its power from wind by the year 2030, but we need 
to quit talking about wind power and get some more turbines off the 
ground and into the air. Wind power means real dollars and cents and 
real jobs and economic development, especially for rural America.
  The first commercial wind farm in Montana started operating in 2005 
in Wheatland County. Wheatland County has a population of about 2,000 
people and a median household income of about $24,000 a year. In 2007, 
the wind farm paid over half a million dollars in property taxes to 
State and local governments. That included nearly a quarter of a 
million dollars to the local school district. It brought in jobs and 
royalty revenue for landowners.
  Wheatland County, as you can tell by the name, is a farming, 
agricultural county. Folks there have spent the last century cursing 
the wind. Today, the local Chamber of Commerce calls Wheatland County 
the Wind Energy Capital of the United States. Next weekend, Wheatland 
County is putting on its first Festival of the Wind. Their slogan is to 
``honor the wind, celebrate our community, and move forward to a vital 
future.''
  With high gas and food prices, wind power is not just a mirage on the 
horizon. In fact, we have only skimmed the surface of our potential. To 
put things in perspective, Montana produces about 150 megawatts of 
wind-generated electricity. Montana is almost exactly the same size as 
Germany. Germany has about 22,000 megawatts of wind power. The entire 
United States has only 16,000 megawatts. Montana will double its wind 
production this year. Next year, we hope to have a new wind energy 
transmission line between Montana and Alberta, and we will double it 
again. But we need that production tax credit in place, not only for 
next year but well into the future.
  Already this year, things have started to slow as developers 
anxiously watch Congress. One wind farm currently under construction is 
racing the clock to start selling power before year's end. Developers 
are scrambling to take advantage of the production tax credit. Their 
plans for several other wind farms are on hold until the production tax 
credit is passed here.
  I cannot overstate the significance of the production tax credit to 
my State of Montana and throughout rural America for economic 
development. But our country cannot afford to let it lapse because of 
climate change and because of high energy costs.
  High costs might be an underestimate. I just read yesterday that 
companies are raising power prices to the tune of 29 percent. That is 
29 percent. That means ordinary folks all across this country are going 
to have to make some very difficult decisions as they sit around their 
kitchen tables. We cannot afford to sit back and just talk about it. It 
is time to get to work, and the work starts today by passing this 
extension, not by waiting until the end of the year.
  That is why I appreciate the leadership of Senator Baucus on 
continuing to bring this measure forward. I believe that passing an 
extension now will send a good signal to business that Congress is 
serious about wind power.

[[Page S5678]]

Congress can invest in renewable energy that will help control energy 
costs and fight climate change. I urge my colleagues once again to 
support this measure and to vote yes and pass it today.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, are we out of the quorum call?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are out of the quorum call.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that our remaining 
time be yielded back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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