U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has again stood up for U.S. wind power, having urged his colleagues in Congress to extend the production tax credit (PTC) and not ‘pull the rug out’ from under the wind industry.
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Grassley called on fellow legislators to finally pass the EXPIRE Act, a tax extenders bill that has been stalled since May. The legislation currently includes a PTC extension and covers over 50 other expired tax credits.
"With the elections behind us, it's now time to get to work and get the extenders bill done," he declared, adding that he is encouraged to hear that there are ongoing negotiations between the Senate and House and that progress is being made.
However, Grassley expressed concern – but not surprise – that some legislators might be pushing to omit the wind PTC from the tax extenders package.
"I agree that the tax code has gotten too cluttered with too many special-interest provisions," he said. "That's the reason many of us have been clamoring for tax reform for years now.Â
"But, just because we haven't cleaned up the tax code in a comprehensive way doesn't mean that we should pull the rug out from under domestic renewable energy producers," Grassley continued. "Doing so would cost jobs, harm our economy, the environment and our national security."
Grassley, a long-time champion of the U.S. wind industry, added, "I'm glad to defend the wind production tax credit and wind energy."
