USA: BlueGreen Alliance Fights for Jobs

The BlueGreen Alliance has announced that it is ramping up an ongoing campaign over the coming months to urge members of Congress to support immediate action in renewing three important job-creating policies — the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind power, the 48C Advanced Energy Project Credit and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for offshore wind. 

The group — a partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations — sent a letter to members of Congress pressing them to include the two policies in tax extender legislation being marked up in the Senate. In addition, they placed a full-page newspaper advertisement— the first of several planned — and are planning events around the country in key areas during the August recess.

“We strongly urge the Senate to incorporate these vital clean energy tax provisions into the tax extender legislation being marked up, because for thousands of Americans not getting this done means losing their job in the near future,” said David Foster, the Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance. “Senate action would also signal to the House the importance of moving forward on these job-creating tax incentives, as well.” 

The American Wind Energy Association estimates that the PTC — a 2.2-cent per kilowatt tax incentive that levels the playing field for wind energy — will allow the wind industry to grow from the current 75,000 jobs to over 100,000 jobs in four years and will continue toward supporting 500,000 jobs by 2030. Without the PTC, the industry stands to lose 35,000 American jobs.

The 48C Advanced Energy Project Credit was passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and was successful at generating clean energy manufacturing growth. At the time of creation, the White House estimated 48C would create more than 17,000 jobs. The investment was planned to be matched by as much as $5.4 billion in private sector funding, which could support up to 41,000 additional jobs. The funding for the program dried up at the end of last year as the Recovery Act expired.

An ITC for offshore wind that provides a 30 percent credit for the first 3,000 megawatts placed in service will reward the first movers and incentivize development in an industry that is poised to create thousands of good jobs.

Offshore wind energy represents a huge untapped resource that stands to generate clean electricity and increased manufacturing jobs for the future of the nation. But as 2012 draws to a close, there are still no operating offshore wind facilities in U.S. waters.  Extending the ITC would send strong signals to the development community and help get these facilities in the water.

“While we support a number of other credits that relate to advanced transportation and energy efficiency, we are prioritizing these tax provisions that support the production and manufacturing of clean energy because they can happen now. This should be — and hopefully will be — a bipartisan effort to save thousands of jobs and create thousands more,” said Foster.

The group has put together an information and action center on its website, which includes fact sheets on the PTC and 48C, as well as a link to their first advertisement.

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Offshore WIND staff, August 6, 2012; Image: BlueGreen Alliance