María Elvira Salazar: “Through the Chair, I ask of my friend from Illinois how important the extension of these energy tax credits is for…”

“Through the Chair, I ask of my friend from Illinois how important the extension of these energy tax credits is for renewable energy, given the fact that this is not pie-in-the-sky kind of technology we are talking about. As I understand, in my State--and I know there are already three solar powerplants that are functioning-- there is a plan in the State of Arizona to put together a 400 or 500-megawatt powerplant that will be powered by the Sun, a 200-megawatt powerplant in the State of California, a whole host of ways in which the Sun can become harnessed for our energy needs. The same thing is true with respect to wind. As my good friend from Illinois talked about, what is happening in Illinois is happening across America, including in my own home State of Colorado where we have gone from almost no wind production 3 years ago to 1,000 megawatts, and there are three or four coal-fired powerplants in my State. So how important, I ask my friend from Illinois, would the extension of these tax credits be until 2015, 2016--however we end up finally reaching that number--to continue investing in harnessing the power of the Sun, the power of wind, the power of biofuels?”