Duke Energy’s Shirley wind turbines declared a "HUMAN HEALTH HAZARD"
filed: October 16, 2014 • Press releases, Wisconsin
Credit: Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy, October 16, 2014, bccrwe.com ~~
DENMARK, WISCONSIN – At the October 14, 2014 Brown County Board of Health meeting, a motion was unanimously approved declaring the Shirley Wind turbines a “Human Health Hazard”. The text of the unanimously approved motion reads:
“To declare the Industrial Wind Turbines at Shirley Wind Project in the Town of Glenmore, Brown County, WI, a Human Health Hazard for all people (residents, workers, visitors, and sensitive passersby) who are exposed to Infrasound/Low Frequency Noise and other emissions potentially harmful to human health.”
We applaud the integrity of the Brown County Board of Health in the work they have done to carry out their mission to ‘promote individual and community health’. They have been deeply involved in trying to resolve the public health crisis that has existed in the Town of Glenmore since Emerging Energies of Wisconsin built the industrial wind project there in 2010. The project has been sold twice since its construction and is now owned by the renewables arm of Duke Energy, with Wisconsin Public Service purchasing the electricity.
Since the erection of the 8 turbines in Glenmore, among the largest in the United States at just under 500 feet tall, three families have vacated the homes they still own and complaints involving over 75 people in the project area have been filed with the Brown County Board of Health (including affidavits representing over 50 people that have been submitted to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin). The root of the complaints and the home abandonments are the conditions created by Shirley Wind, allege the residents.
The declaration of Duke’s Shirley wind turbines as “Human Health Hazards” follow a year long study linking the signature of inaudible low frequency noise (created by the passing of the massive turbine blades past their supporting towers) to the homes that have been abandoned and to the homes where people continue to suffer. The Board of Health was asked to look at the study’s raw data, the evidence linking the sound data to the wind turbines, peer-reviewed medical research and the complaints of the people living in the conditions around Duke’s Shirley Wind project. They looked at the facts, they listened to the residents, they studied the medical literature, and then made the connection between Shirley Wind’s operations and the suffering in Glenmore – declaring the wind turbines a “Human Health Hazard”.
The Brown County Board of Health, the Brown County Human Services Committee, and the Brown County Board of Supervisors have all taken action on the wind turbine issue over the past four years. When resolutions have been sent to the State of Wisconsin to conduct the studies that their own PSC-funded testing called for, nothing was done. When emergency relocation aide was requested for those families forced from or suffering in their homes, the request was ignored. When they endorsed the ‘Wisconsin Citizens Safe Wind Siting Guidelines’ which includes science-based protections from low frequency noise, they were summarily dismissed. Brown County has now recognized this as a public health issue caused by the operation of Duke’s Shirley Wind.
The State of Wisconsin has stripped the right of towns and counties to responsibly site wind turbines in their own communities and have created state-wide siting rules with little protection for families forced to live in wind projects. The State refuses to recognize the health impacts around its existing wind turbine installations and draft better protections for future projects. By ignoring these impacts, they are dooming more communities to the same fate as the Town of Glenmore.
Media Contact:
Steve Deslauriers
PO Box 703
Denmark WI 54208
(920) 785-1837
www.BCCRWE.com
info@BCCRWE.com
https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/10/16/duke-energys-shirley-wind-turbines-declared-a-human-health-hazard/
Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation Accused of Tax Law Violations
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 10:52 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
E&E Legal Files Referral With IRS Regarding Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation Tax Law Violations
INDUSTRIAL WIND NEEDS BLOWBACK (Siemens ad campaign targeting U.S. taxpayers)
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 8:52 AMIndustrial Wind Needs Blowback (Siemens ad campaign targeting U.S. taxpayers)
by Mary Kay Barton
August 20, 2014
“Since Siemens’ tax-sheltering market is drying up in Europe, their marketing efforts in the U.S. are clearly geared towards increasing income for its investors via wind’s tax sheltering schemes here. Taxpayers, consumers take note!”
If you watch much mainstream TV, you’ve probably seen Siemens’ recent multi-million-dollar advertising blitz to sell the American public on industrial wind.
As it turns out, the wind business abroad has taken a huge hit of late. European countries have begun slashing renewable mandates due to the ever-broadening realization that renewables cost far more than industrial wind proponents have led everyone to believe — not only economically, but environmentally, technically, and civilly as well.
As reported in the article Siemens onshore, offshore pain:
“Siemens’ energy business took a €48m hit in the second quarter related
to a bearings issue with onshore turbines and a €23m charge due to
ongoing offshore grid issues in Germany.”
Since Siemens’ tax-sheltering market is
drying up in Europe, their marketing efforts in the U.S. are clearly
geared towards increasing income for its investors via wind’s tax
sheltering schemes here. Taxpayers, ratepayers beware!
As a company who stands to profit handsomely by it, Siemens ad campaign is obviously part of an overall pitch to urge Congress to extend the very lucrative wind Production Tax Credit (PTC), or more accurately, the “Pork-To-Cronies” bill.
As Warren Buffett recently admitted, “We get tax credits if we build lots of windfarms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.”
President Obama claims he wants to “close corporate loopholes,” while his policies (i.e.: the PTC) continue to funnel $Billions of taxpayer dollars to his wealthy corporate insiders – all while the unconscionable debt we are leaving for our children and grandchildren continues to mount.
IRS’s End-run Around Legislation
Increasing public awareness of the scam that wind energy really is has led to increased opposition
to extending any more corporate welfare to Big Wind via the PTC and
ITC. Enter another bureaucratic end-run around legislation by this
Administration.
As recently reported by the WSJ,
the IRS has relaxed the definition of “commence construction” to the
point where the definition bears no resemblance to the actual words.
Curtis G. Wilson of the IRS admitted at a hearing
by the House Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements subcommittee
(chaired by Congressman James Lankford (R-OK)) last October, that
developers can game the system to the point where projects built years
from now could still meet the eligibility requirements.
U.S. taxpayers and ratepayers are doomed when, instead of allowing
the markets to work, crony-Corruptocrats are picking the winners and
losers in the energy marketplace using such nefarious tactics.
Things Wind Advertisements Won’t Tell You
Sadly, most people don’t even know the difference between energy and power. This reality has laid the framework for the biggest SWINDLE to
ever be perpetrated on citizens worldwide. Many well-intended people
have bought in on the alarmists’ theory that “We have to do something”
in order to stop “Global Warming” – Enter, the wind industry sales department.
Siemens needs to convince the 80% of
U.S. citizens who live in suburbia that industrial wind factories are
“environmentally-friendly,” and that everyone loves them. Thus, as usual
for these disingenuous ad campaigns, a sprawling wind factory is
pictured amongst green fields, with no homes anywhere to be seen, while a
happy Iowa leaseholder smiles and says she loves wind.
Taking a drive out Route 20A in Wyoming County of western New York State, however, tells a far different story.
The western side of Wyoming County – which used to be some of the most
beautiful countryside in New York State, has been industrialized with
308 giant, 430 foot-tall towers, and their 11-ton, bird-chopping blades
spinning overhead, only hundreds of feet from peoples’ homes and
roadways. There’s no doubt that Siemens won’t be showing you this
reality in any of their TV ads!
Unfortunately for the residents of the
Wyoming County town of Orangeville, NY, greed at the top in Washington,
DC determined their fate. The sole reason Invenergy went ahead with
their plans to build their 58-turbine project in Orangeville was that the PTC was added as pork for those sucking at the teat of wind welfare in the wee hours of the morning, 1/1/13.
Ever appreciative for the handouts, Ukrainian Michael Polsky – the owner of Invenergy, rewarded President Obama by holding a $35,000 a plate fundraiser at his mansion in Chicago. President Obama is so committed to Big Wind that he’s even legalized 30-Year EAGLE KILL Permits just for the wind industry.
There you have it – corporate cronyism in all its glory, with bird murder as their crowning glory.
Word of impending lawsuits linger in Orangeville. It remains to be seen if disenchanted leaseholders will end up suing Big Wind, as others have. In the meantime, we’re hoping we don’t have any more 11-ton blade breaks
that throw shrapnel for thousands of feet, or airplanes crashing into wind turbines during
fog, as occurred in South Dakota earlier this year, killing all four on
board. (Bet you won’t be seeing any of these facts on Siemens’ ads
either.)
Elected Officials: Energy Literacy, Please
What’s most frustrating when attempting
any kind of correspondence regarding these energy issues with many
elected officials, is the kind of response I received from New York State Senator Schumer when
I wrote him a letter about ending the Wind PTC. Senator Schumer never
even mentioned the PTC in his response to me, but instead, rambled on
about the need to “reduce foreign oil imports,” and increase
“efficiency” – neither of which have anything to do with wind-generated
electricity.
Senator Schumer recently feigned alarm following
complaints by citizens about soaring electric rates, demanding answers
about it — while simultaneously supporting extending the Wind PTC (as
well as other rate-increasing “renewable” projects). Senator Schumer’s hypocrisy is outrageous, and simply unacceptable.
Perhaps it’s time that U.S. ratepayers
and taxpayers demand that their elected officials first pass an energy
literacy exam before they pass on such cost-exorbitant, ‘green’
boondoggles to consumers.
Call to Action!
Congress is on vacation through August,
which makes this the perfect time to approach your Senators and
Representatives while they’re home. We can attend town hall meetings
and in-district fundraisers. Remind your representatives that WE put
them in office, and that WE can just as easily VOTE THEM OUT!
Since energy plays a pivotal role in our national economy – impacting the cost of absolutely everything else, candidates should have “Energy” listed on their Issues webpage.
Good candidates will support an “All of the Sensible“ energy policy as opposed to the “All of the Above” energy policy which President Obama has been pushing on behalf of the ‘green’ movement. “Sensible” alternative
energy options are those that have scientific proof that they have a net societal benefit.
Industrial wind fails this test miserably!
For more information, you can refer them to an excellent book that I have handed out to a number of elected officials — Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the FuturebyRobert Bryce.
Continue to call and write their
offices, and encourage them to oppose any extension of the PTC and ITC!
Write letters to your local newspapers, copy their district offices, and
post information on their social media pages (i.e.: Facebook & Twitter).
We must demand accountability from
elected officials, or VOTE THEM OUT! Reliable, affordable energy is what
has made America great. Let’s keep it that way.
Industrial Wind Needs Blowback (Siemens ad campaign targeting U.S. taxpayers) — MasterResource
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/08/siemens-ad-us-taxpayers/
USFWS Seeking Public Input on Eagle-KILL permits to the Wind Industry
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 10:13 AM
USFWS Seeking Public Input on 30-Year Eagle-KILL permits to the Wind Industry
The United States Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) is asking for public input as to whether they should
extend “non-purposeful” or “incidental” “take permits” from the current
5 years to 30 years.USFWS is also looking at a number of other
important changes in how they interpret and enforce the Bald and Golden
Eagle Protection Act (or not) through the issuance of permits. There
are problems with both existing practice and the currently proposed
changes.
We need citizens to attend one of the five public meetings
and/or provide written comments to the USFWS.
July 22, 2014: Sacramento, CA, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Red Lion Hotel
Woodlake Conference Center, 500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento, CA, 95815
[map]
July 24, 2014: Minneapolis, MN, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., DoubleTree
Bloomington-MSP South, 7800 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington, MN 55439
[map]
July 29, 2014: Albuquerque, NM, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., DoubleTree
Albuquerque, 201 Marquette Avenue Northwest, Albuquerque, NM 87102 [map]
July 31, 2014: Denver, CO, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Holiday Inn Denver
Airport, 6900 Tower Rd, Denver, CO 80249 [map]
August 7, 2014: Washington, DC, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., South Interior
Building, 1951 Constitution Ave, NW Washington, DC 20240. [map]
BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: Wind and Solar are the Worst
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/6/19/wind-and-solar-are-worst.html
Wind’s PTC: The Opposition Mounts (117 groups and counting)
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 12:27 PMWind’s PTC: The Opposition Mounts (117 groups and counting)
by Robert Bradley Jr.
June 11, 2014
June 11, 2014
“The U.S. wind industry has … demonstrated reliability and performance levels that make them very competitive.”
- Statement of Michael L.S. Bergey, American Wind Energy Association, 1986.
“The wind PTC was initially passed in 1992 as a temporary incentive to help a then fledgling industry – with the expectation that wind energy would be environmentally benign and would become commercially viable. However, after nearly 40 years of subsidies for wind energy R&D and 20 years of lucrative wind energy tax breaks — together totaling over $100 billion.”- Glenn Schleede, “Republicans for Obama Energy (Senate Finance Committee Okays PTC/ITC Subsidies),” April 16, 2014.
Concentrated benefits/diffused costs.
The cronies, rent-seeking profits calculated, lobby government in the
capitals. Most of the rest of us, just paying a fraction of a penny for
their many dollars, stay home. That’s how government grows and bad
public-policy rationales get going.
Wind power and other qualifying
renewables got their government largesse long ago. Even before
the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the American Wind Energy Association
(AWEA) was promising coming competitiveness with just a bit more
subsidy, a little more time. Then the taxpayer favor could go away, they
promised time and again.
The open-ended, outsized tax subsidy
for qualifying renewable energy, a mainstay of Obama energy policy, is a
Republican, not only Democrat, problem. Texas, for example, thanks to Enron
in a bootlegger-and-Baptist coalition with pro-wind environmentalists,
is a Republican friendly state for AWEA et al. Note the support for wind
from, for example, Sen. John Cornyn.
New Coalition Letter
Earlier this week, a coalition letter (reprinted below) urged Congress not to renew the wind PTC in these words:
“On behalf of our groups
and organizations, together representing millions of Americans, we write
to express our strong opposition to renewing expired wind tax
incentives.
“Over the past 20 years, American
taxpayers have seen little return from the forced investment in wind
energy. This handout consistently fails to deliver on its promise of
long-term job creation, economic activity, and affordability. It
promotes government favoritism in the energy marketplace, threatens the
reliability of the electric grid, and a 1 year extension costs $12
billion over 10 years. Recent reports and studies have also shown that
subsidizing wind energy results in higher electricity costs for American
families.
“American taxpayers deserve a portfolio
of energy solutions that are economically viable, not those that have
to be propped up by carve outs in the tax code.”
See more at:
The myth of the climate change 97%
By Joseph Bast and Roy Spencer
Secretary
of State John Kerry, President Obama
and others frequently claim that climate change
will have “crippling consequences,” and that
“Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that
climate change is real, man-made and dangerous.”
In reality, the assertion is science fiction. The
so-called consensus comes from a handful of
surveys and exercises in counting abstracts from
scientific papers – all of which have been contra-
dicted by more reliable research.
and others frequently claim that climate change
will have “crippling consequences,” and that
“Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that
climate change is real, man-made and dangerous.”
In reality, the assertion is science fiction. The
so-called consensus comes from a handful of
surveys and exercises in counting abstracts from
scientific papers – all of which have been contra-
dicted by more reliable research.
There is no basis for the claim that "97% of scientists" believe that man-made
climate change is a dangerous problem.
climate change is a dangerous problem.
To read the entire WSJ article, go to:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303480304579578462813553136
Ohio SB 310: ENERGY USERS BEAT THE CRONIES! (GE, AWEA, etc.)
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 10:39 AMOhio SB 310: Energy Users Best the Cronies (GE, AWEA, etc.)
by Kevon Martis
May 30, 2014
May 30, 2014
“But the
truth is that Ohio’s renewable energy mandates have largely benefited
only one group: entrenched monopoly fossil utilities like AEP,
Iberdrola, and corporate behemoths like GE.
But what should we expect? It was their idea in the first place.”
Senate Bill 310’s attempt to freeze Ohio’s renewable energy mandate
has elicited the typical partisan howls from Ohio’s green energy
profiteers. They have been quick to paint the supporters of SB310 as
slavish supporters of the much maligned Koch Brothers, FirstEnergy or
other “dark fossil corporate profiteers”.
Curiously, these environmental group’s normally exquisitely tuned
“corporate conspiracy radar” appears to have developed a massive
wind-turbine-sized blind spot.
Consider:
- In 1998 it was Enron’s Ken Lay who implored George W. Bush to extend subsidies for wind energy. A quick scan of his letter reveals talking points that today could easily be mistaken for the Ohio Sierra Club: “Wind is the fastest growing new electrical generation technology in the world today and has rapidly decreased its production costs until it is close to being competitive with conventional generation technologies.”
- But as shown by Sierra’s willingness to take $26 million from gas driller Chesapeake Energy to fight coal, their policy positions can be very nimble indeed-for a price.
- After Enron’s epic fail their wind business was scooped up by General Electric. GE’s power generation unit saw great opportunity in the growing alarm over global warming.
Traditional coal plants last a very
long time, 60 years or more. It is hard to sell new plants when they
obsolesce so slowly. But if new CO2 regulations could begin to force
premature retirement of still-serviceable coal plants, GE could fill
that generation void with new gas generation. Every megawatt of retired
coal generation could then be replaced with new (GE) gas generation.
That is a fine start but what if there were a way to sell two or
three or four megawatts (MW) of new capacity to replace one MW of
prematurely retired coal generation?
Intermittent wind energy that is wholly reliant
upon gas generators for grid integration was the key. But how to create
a market share for expensive wind energy which typically arrives at times of low demand and low price?
Enter state renewable energy mandates like Ohio’s SB221.
GE’s business is generators. As board members
of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) they have been at the
vanguard of promoting and protecting renewable energy mandates. Since
wind energy is variable and intermittent in output due to the vagaries
of weather, one cannot simply replace 1,000MW of baseload coal
generation with 1,000MW of wind generation.
Replacing such a coal plant with wind generation requires one to
construct approximately 1,000MW of gas-fired generation to balance and
backup wind’s erratic output. For GE that is win-win. They get to sell
2MW of new generation to replace 1MW of perfectly serviceable coal
generation being prematurely retired by EPA regulations.
But even better for GE is the fact that wind turbines last 20 years- at best.
Thus, over the 60 year life of a typical coal plant, not only do
ratepayers need to pay for a new 1,000MW (GE) gas generator, they are
also compelled to buy 1,000 MW of GE wind turbines AND replace them at
least two more times over 60 years.
Thus, through the magic of EPA regulation, coupled with high level PR
air support from willing accomplices like Sierra Club and furthered by
renewable energy mandates like the one SB310 hopes to freeze, corporate
giant GE has struck a largely tax free green bonanza.
Our “corporate conspiracy” search does not end there. A quick review
of the AWEA’s board of directors reveals an interesting cast of fossil
fuel characters indeed.
Iberdrola Renewables’ corporate parent is among the largest fossil
utilities in Europe. An aggressive opponent of SB310, Ohio wind operator
Iberdrola also owns significant fossil fuel generation in the US. Wind
works well for Iberdrola: in just one year their US wind investments
allowed them to strip mine $1 billion from the US tax code and export it to Spain.
Along with German utility E. On Energy and FPL/NextEra, Ohio’s
fossil giant AEP also enjoys a place on the AWEA board. Could it be that
wind subsidies are really just more fossil subsidies?
There are many solid reasons for Ohioans to support freezing renewable energy mandates.
SB221’s instate renewable energy generation mandate violates the Commerce Clause
of the U.S. Constitution. Worse, Ohio’s wind resource is anemic
relative to its western peers. This means OH wind is roughly twice the
price of Iowa’s or Minnesota’s.
Still worse for Ohio’s environment, the center/left Brookings Institute, deeply concerned about climate change, now reports
that wind and solar energy mandates like SB221 are the most costly and
least effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Anyone can play “find the (Koch) bogeyman”.
But the truth is that Ohio’s renewable energy mandates have largely
benefited only one group: entrenched monopoly fossil utilities like AEP,
Iberdrola, and corporate behemoths like GE.
But what should we expect? It was their idea in the first place.
The good news appears to be that Ohio will stop the renewable
charade. Tom Stacy, an “Ohioan for Affordable Electricity,” offers his
plaudits for Substitute SB 310 that passed the Ohio House and Senate
and now awaits gubernatorial approval to become law.
Appendix: Tom Stacy on Ohio Win
“This is a win for ratepayers, Ohio’s economy and its environment,” he said. “Ratepayers can rest assured that rates won’t rise due to ‘self inflicted measures’ at the state level even while their federal government’s EPA has us in a head lock.”
Ohio’s bread and butter industries and
employers are energy intensive, some consuming as much as $200,000 worth
of electricity per employee per year. Escalating costs could have
catastrophic effects on wages, benefits, expansion plans and even
employment if any one of those manufacturers ‘pulls the plug’ on Ohio
operations due to escalating energy costs and projections.”
“From the environmental side, it is
unfortunate groups such as Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Union of Concerned
Scientists, Natural Resource Defense Council and others whose stated
mission and public image is environmental improvement often have agendas
that prevent pursuing such laudable goals in the most cost effective
ways. Some appear to despise wealth in general – even earned and well
deserved wealth.
How Un-American! Some hate cronyism – so
do tea parties – but fail to admit that renewables like wind are some
of the worst offenders in that department. And some just hate the idea
that man benefits from fire, something cavemen discovered and we’ve been
better off ever since.”
“The study committee will hopefully add a
so-far-woefully-absent dimension to energy and environment policy:
evaluating both the direct and indirect costs and benefits of various
electricity source options, while recognizing that per unit cost of
intermittent sources of electricity cannot and should not ever be
directly compared to the cost of dispatchable sources.”
“It would be really meaningful for the
study committee to propose an end goal measured in PPM and cents per KWh
instead of just mandating large percentages of somebody’s favorite
technology and then taking their word that it will magically cure all
ails.
The study committee may move us in that
direction. We are confident it will balance everyone’s desire for
standard of living improvement, high employment, low rates and less
wasted taxes. Maybe these are even as important as ever cleaner air and
water and ever less changing climates, considering the US is already a
global leader in emissions standards.”
“This bill has the potential to raise
political and public awareness of not just electricity choices, but the
very closely related choices between socialism and capitalism. The idea
of ‘all of the above’ translates to ‘some of the ridiculous.’ What we
need is an ‘all of the competitive’ energy policy, and Ohio has taken a
small step in that direction through the passage of Am. Sub. SB 310.”
Read the entire article: Ohio SB 310: Energy Users Best the Cronies (GE, AWEA, etc) at:
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/05/ohio-senate-bill-310-why-is-good-news-for-energy-users-bad-are-journalists-as-crony-as-crony-capitalists/
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/05/ohio-senate-bill-310-why-is-good-news-for-energy-users-bad-are-journalists-as-crony-as-crony-capitalists/
Irresponsible Senate Finance Committee Action on Wind Energy Tax Break, by Glenn Schleede
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 3:42 PM
Irresponsible Senate Finance Committee Action on Wind Energy Tax Break
April 11, 2013
Once
again, the Senate Committee that manages to make life miserable for
millions of tax-paying Americans with its manipulation of the US Tax
Code, is acting to aid its friends, punish ordinary taxpayers, and load
another $85 billion in debt on our children and grandchildren.
On
April 3, 2014, by “voice” (no fingerprints) vote, the Senate Finance
Committee reported out an $85 billion tax break ”extender” bill -- which
the Committee calls the “EXPIRE Act.” [1] The bill includes billions in unwarranted tax breaks for special interests, including the wind industry.
As
long as Congress fails to pass a balanced budget, every dollar provided
to special interests in this $85 billion “Extender” bill is a direct
addition to the national debt that will be dumped on our children and
grandchildren. Further, each dollar that Congress adds to the national
debt will be DOUBLED in about 15 years due to interest that will accrue
on that debt.
An
egregious example of an unwarranted special interest tax break in the
Finance Committee’s bill is Senator Grassley’s wind and other renewable
energy “Production Tax Credit” (PTC) and “Investment Tax Credit” (ITC).
Grassley insisted on extending this 20-year old “temporary” tax break
for another 2 years at a cost, according to the Joint Tax Committee, of
more than $13 billion over the next 10 years (and more thereafter).
When
Senator Toomey attempted to eliminate unwarranted energy tax breaks
from the bill, Republican Senators Grassley, Cornyn, Thune, Crapo, &
Portman[2] joined Finance Committee Democrats in voting to keep the massive energy tax breaks in the bill!
The
votes for Grassley’s $13+ billion wind PTC and ITC extension to benefit
“wind farm” owners would result in an equal addition to future
generations’ debt burden! Under Grassley’s measure, owners of “wind
farms” would be able to continue reducing their corporate income tax
liability by $0.023 (adjusted upward for inflation) for each
kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity produced by their wind turbines
during the next 10 years.
The
wind PTC was initially passed in 1992 as a temporary incentive to help a
then fledgling industry – with the expectation that wind energy would
be environmentally benign and would become commercially viable. However,
after nearly 40 years of subsidies for wind energy R&D and 20 years
of lucrative wind energy tax breaks -- together totaling over $100
billion:
- Electricity from wind remains high in true cost and low in real value[3] – with the wind industry providing no evidence that electricity from wind will ever become commercially viable (i.e., without large tax breaks and subsidies).
- Producing electricity from wind has proven to have numerous adverse environmental, economic, electric system reliability, scenic, and property value impacts not originally foreseen and still not admitted by wind industry advocates; and
Eight Republicans[4]
(some claiming to be “conservatives”) and 110 Democrats in the US House
of Representatives have signed a letter to House leaders urging
extension of the wind PTC. The tax-writing House Ways & Means
Committee hasn’t taken up the wind PTC, but one of the wind industry’s
Washington lobbyists has bragged that the wind industry still has "very
strong support from Democrats in the House and strong support from some,
but not all, of the Republicans."[5]
Last
December, Senator Grassley told constituents in Iowa that the costly
wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) would be extended soon. “…Congress will
come back after the New Year and approve four dozen or more tax
credits.” “There are a lot of economic interests”…represented in the tax
credits. Those interest groups collectively “put a lot of pressure on
Congress to re-institute the credits’[6]
In
addition to wind industry lobbyists, Grassley undoubtedly was referring
to such Washington establishment organizations as the US Chamber of
Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, and Business
Roundtable. Organizations such as these once championed private
enterprise but now seem to be heavily influenced by member companies
that:
- Have concluded that there is less risk and more profit in “mining” Washington for tax breaks and subsidies than in pursing truly innovative and productive activities in private, competitive markets.
- Have no problem in accepting special interest tax breaks that load debt on future generations.
The
April 3rd action by the Senate Finance Committee certainly helps
explain why a recent Gallup Survey shows that Congress currently has a
13% favorability rating. If the nation’s “Millennials” understand how
the Congress is adding to the debt that they and their children will
bear, they may assign an even lower rating!
Glenn R. Schleede
Virginia
Virginia
[1] Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act.
[2] See “Results of [Senate Finance Committee] Executive Session.040314” download 4/9/14 from: http://www.finance.senate.gov/legislation/details/?id=67094f10-5056-a032-52ff-257830e0a938
[3] Electricity is produced by wind turbines only when wind speeds are in the right range (starting around 6 MPH, reaching rated capacity around 32 MPH, and cutting out around 55 MPH). Electricity from wind turbines is, therefore, low in value because it is intermittent, volatile, unreliable, and most likely to be produced at night in colder months, not on hot weekday afternoons when most needed. Reliable generating using conventional energy sources must always be available to maintain stable electric grids and a reliable electricity supply.
[4] King (IA), Lucas (OK), Runyan (NJ), Fitzpatrick (PA), Gibson (NY), Latham (IA), Noem (SD). Cole (OK).
[5] http://www.snl.com/Interactivex/article.aspx?CdId=A-27696241-11565 (downloaded April 11, 2014)
[6] The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), December 11, 2013.
[2] See “Results of [Senate Finance Committee] Executive Session.040314” download 4/9/14 from: http://www.finance.senate.gov/legislation/details/?id=67094f10-5056-a032-52ff-257830e0a938
[3] Electricity is produced by wind turbines only when wind speeds are in the right range (starting around 6 MPH, reaching rated capacity around 32 MPH, and cutting out around 55 MPH). Electricity from wind turbines is, therefore, low in value because it is intermittent, volatile, unreliable, and most likely to be produced at night in colder months, not on hot weekday afternoons when most needed. Reliable generating using conventional energy sources must always be available to maintain stable electric grids and a reliable electricity supply.
[4] King (IA), Lucas (OK), Runyan (NJ), Fitzpatrick (PA), Gibson (NY), Latham (IA), Noem (SD). Cole (OK).
[5] http://www.snl.com/Interactivex/article.aspx?CdId=A-27696241-11565 (downloaded April 11, 2014)
[6] The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), December 11, 2013.
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