Political Quotes

“I commend the Senator from Colorado, Senator Udall, for his leadership on this very important issue. I also want to commend my colleague Senator Whitehouse, who has been extraordinarily effective as a national leader on energy policy and ocean policy. As Senator Udall pointed out, we are at a very critical moment. Nationally, with the support of the wind production tax credit, or the PTC, nearly 500 facilities across 44 States manufacture components for the wind energy industry. These products are critical to our future. The U.S. content of wind turbines installed in the United States has grown from 25 percent prior to 2005 to 60 percent today, according to the American Wind Energy Association. So we are actually seeing a situation in which American components are displacing foreign components in wind turbine installations that are being deployed here in the United States. That is an encouraging sign, because it means more jobs in manufacturing and it means more American content in products that would be purchased by Americans. This is fundamentally premised on the availability of the wind PTC, and so we have to maintain it. If we do not, then we are again at the mercy of world markets in which we suspect that there are countries that are supporting, directly and indirectly, their wind energy sectors very aggressively. We need comprehensive reform of our Tax Code. That will be discussed, I am sure, in the months ahead.…”