[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13703-13704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, like others in this body, including Senator 
Udall of Colorado and my fellow senator from Vermont, Senator Sanders, 
I support extending the production tax credit for wind energy. This 
extension is critical to maintaining America's leadership in green 
energy development and can directly increase domestic job growth. 
Vermont has already seen the positive results of the production tax 
credit for wind energy, but the wind industry impacts our entire 
country. Every American has a stake in the extension of this tax 
credit.
  I am proud that Vermont is a leader in green energy. My State has set 
ambitious, yet achievable, goals to develop renewable energy resources 
and

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technology. We are doing our part to promote job growth, national 
security, and environmental benefits that tap into local, renewable 
energy sources. Yet despite these efforts, Vermont has already 
experienced negative consequences from the uncertainty that surrounds 
the extension of this tax credit.
  I frequently hear the success stories in the renewable energy 
industry coming out of Vermont, and from industry leaders there about 
the exciting new projects they are developing. But this summer, the 
stories have been different. One such company, NRG Systems in Vermont, 
has been a global leader in wind measurement. The company's CEO, Jan 
Blittersdorf, and her team of dedicated employees take great pride in 
delivering precise, reliable and proven wind measurement and turbine 
control equipment. Jan is an industry leader who has been recognized as 
a Champion of Change by President Obama and who has been praised for 
her renewable energy work and efforts to advance the role of women in 
the green energy sector.
  During the recession, as jobs were being cut in many sectors across 
the country and in Vermont, NRG bucked the trend by hiring new workers, 
and the company continued to innovate and look for ways to grow their 
business. Today, you can find their products in more than 144 
countries. Now, however, due to the uncertainty surrounding the 
extension of the production tax credit, companies like NRG are putting 
new projects on hold, and for the first time in its 30 year history NRG 
Systems has been forced to lay off workers--a devastating prospect for 
a business in a rural state that has prided itself on its ability to 
adapt to changing market conditions and its strong support for its 
workers.
  These are skilled and dedicated employees losing vital domestic jobs. 
American workers cannot afford a delay in the extension of the 
production tax credit. At a time when manufacturing jobs have been 
shipped overseas, the wind energy sector has done the opposite: it has 
added manufacturing jobs here in America. Wind energy companies, like 
NRG Systems, are entrepreneurs who are doing the kind of groundbreaking 
work that drives our economy.
  We have a chance to invest in jobs for America, rather than 
subsidizing the oil industry to the tune of billions of dollars every 
year. Our continued dependence on fossil fuels ensures that we will 
have more of the extreme weather events that have long been a predicted 
consequence of global warming, such as the drought that is devastating 
our Nation's farmers this summer and the terrible flooding from 
Hurricane Irene last summer. It is time to say goodbye to the big oil 
tax subsidies and usher in a new era of wind energy. The benefits are 
clear: wind energy has propelled a sustainable and domestic energy 
source, increased jobs for Americans, and strengthened our domestic 
energy security.
  These are jobs we cannot afford to lose. In Vermont, and for the wind 
industry across the country, NRG Systems is the canary in the coal 
mine--an early indicator of the crisis that the wind industry is headed 
toward if the production tax credit is not extended. This crisis is 
something we have seen every time this tax credit has lapsed. Each time 
the production tax credit has been allowed to lapse, revenues in the 
wind industry fall precipitously, businesses shutter their doors, and 
workers lose their jobs. There are ways to avoid this catastrophe.
  We must continue the production tax credit now or we will most 
certainly cede these jobs to other countries. I urge all Senators to 
join me in supporting these important credits. They support American 
jobs, American companies, American ingenuity, and American energy 
security. We should extend the production tax credit for wind and 
continue America's leadership in this growing energy sector.

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