Govs. Chet Culver, D-Iowa, and Donald L. Carcieri, R-R.I., have released ‘Great Expectations: U.S. Wind Energy Development, the Governors' Wind Energy Coalition's 2010 Recommendations.’
‘Congressional action on the energy bill seems to have stalled,’ says Carcieri, who, along with Culver, is co-chair of the Governors' Wind Energy Coalition. ‘It is our hope that these recommendations – and the national bipartisan consensus they represent – will advance the energy deliberations now under way in Congress.’
The recommendations call for the following actions by both Congress and the Obama administration:
– adopt a renewable electricity standard;
– develop new interstate electric transmission system infrastructure as needed to provide access to premier onshore and offshore renewable energy resources;
– fully support coastal, deepwater and offshore wind energy technology, and transmission research and development;
– streamline permitting processes for both offshore and onshore wind energy development projects;
– expand the U.S. Department of Energy's work with the states and the wind industry to accelerate innovation; and
– extend the Treasury Department grant program in lieu of the investment tax credit and adopt a long-term renewable energy production tax credit with provisions to broaden the pool of eligible investors.
The Governors' Wind Energy Coalition is a bipartisan group of 29 of the nation's governors who are dedicated to the development of the nation's wind energy resources to meet U.S. domestic energy demands in an environmentally responsible manner, while reducing the nation's dependence on imported energy sources and stimulating state and national economic development.
SOURCE: The Governors' Wind Energy Coalition
