Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is slamming Congress for adjourning without extending the wind energy production tax credit (PTC).
‘It is extremely disappointing for workers throughout Colorado and the country, whose jobs rely on the wind industry, that Congress has not yet extended the PTC,’ Bennet said in a statement. ‘Let it be clear: The delay in extending the credit is already costing Colorado jobs. If it expires, the wind industry, as well as thousands of jobs in Colorado and tens of thousands more across the country, will take a devastating hit.
‘The wind PTC has bipartisan support and is an economic driver that is critical to jobs and a clean and diverse energy portfolio in this country,’ he continued. "It should be extended, and it should be extended immediately."
Bennet – like his fellow Colorado senator, Mark Udall – has led many efforts to extend the PTC. He has introduced two bipartisan amendments with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and co-sponsored by Udall, to extend the PTC. He also partnered with Udall and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to introduce the American Energy and Job Promotion Act, a bipartisan bill to extend the PTC for wind and several other renewable energy technologies.
In July, Bennet was part of a bipartisan group of senators that successfully urged the Senate Finance Committee to include an extension of the PTC in a tax-extenders bill.
