Wind energy works for America

 

Rep. Tom Reed (R, NY-23) penned an op-ed in The Hill this week explaining why the wind energy Production Tax Credit should be considered a successful policy, and why he thinks wind works for America.

Rep. Reed cited wind’s large-scale job creation, the income it provides to rural communities, and the economic investment it attracts as reasons why it’s an important part of an all-of-the-above energy policy.

Here are a few highlights from Rep. Reed’s piece:

Just take a look at these numbers: Today, over 100,000 Americans work in wind energy, across all 50 states. A quarter have jobs at more than 500 U.S. factories, building parts for turbines here in the USA. Wind turbine technician has become the country’s fastest growing job according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and veterans have found work in wind power at a rate 50 percent higher than the average industry.

Wind has attracted over $140 billion of private investment into our economy over the past decade. Much of this has gone right where it’s needed most, in counties hurting for jobs and financial resources. For many of the nation’s farmers and ranchers, wind energy has become their new drought-proof cash crop, paying them $245 million a year for leases, a figure that grows each year. This is particularly important in the rural parts of my district in upstate New York.

We’ve seen that wind energy works as part of a larger comprehensive energy strategy for America and the PTC helped make that possible. By the time the tax credit phases out, we will have created over 200,000 American jobs, many in Rust Belt towns that truly need them. We will have brought billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, providing a substantial boost to rural America.

If I could have seen into the future when we agreed to the PTC phase-down in 2015, I couldn’t have painted a better picture.

 Make sure to read his full commentary in The Hill.