Quad Cities Watchdog Sniffing out government's lack of common sense

Wind Power – Tumbleweeds & Cricket Farts

You may recall that awhile back I wrote a blog post about Congressman Braley's Wind Energy Plans. You can find that post by clicking here.  I also wrote him a letter letting him know that I disagreed with the government effectively sponsoring these types of projects.

Since then I received a letter in response from Congressman Braley as follows:

Thank you for contacting me regarding government spending on wind energy. This is an important issue and I am glad you have shared your views with me.

I appreciate your concerns regarding the financial burden of government spending, and I know that the current recession has created the need for a significant amount of increased spending. Tough choices have been made in just the last few months, and I believe that we must return to an era of responsible spending and balanced budgets.

As you may know, Iowa ranks second among the states in electricity generated through wind power. Iowa is home to six wind manufacturing companies representing thousands of clean energy jobs and an investment of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in our state. Iowa now has the installed capacity of over 2,700 MW. This amount of wind generation will provide about 18% of Iowa's total electricity needs.

I have worked hard to restore fiscal discipline to the United States government, and reverse the spending that did occur over the last eight years that sent our nation into debt. Last Congress, the House of Representatives passed a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rule, requiring new entitlement spending and new tax cuts to be fully offset. The House steadfastly enforced the PAYGO rule on legislation brought to the floor last Congress, and I have been fully supportive of this process. This process has included more than 30 House bills that required PAYGO offsets of $1 million or more. I am fully committed to the PAYGO principle, and I will work tooth and nail to balance the budget while also helping rejuvenate our nation's struggling economy.

Please know that I will continue working to restore a balanced budget, and I'm committed to getting spending under control as we are able to recover from the current economic recession.

Thanks again for contacting me. I occasionally provide electronic updates on issues I think my constituents might be interested in. If you would like to receive my E-newsletter, please sign up at my website at http://braley.house.gov. On my website you can also view my voting record, and get information about issues important to the First District. If I can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Bruce Braley

Member of Congress

Without actually saying it I think we can all get the feeling that he really just loves the idea of wind power right here in our state.  Is it just me or did I actually read that he said, "I have worked hard to restore fiscal discipline to the United States government, and reverse the spending that did occur over the last eight years that sent our nation into debt." Wow, cause in the same letter I believe he said, "Iowa is home to six wind manufacturing companies representing thousands of clean energy jobs and an investment of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in our state."

Let's pause a moment and think about that.  Nearly a quarter billion dollars have been invested in Iowa for wind energy manufacturing companies.  Hmm, how about we point out some interesting tidbits and drill into that some more, shall we?

The Wall Street Journal on the 19th of October, 2009 said the following, "Wind-energy producers and equipment makers enjoy state tax breaks."  Oh, so were not really collecting any taxes on these investments and were penalizing energy competitors like coal, nuclear, and water based electricity generation companies, right?

How about this, Kansas Wind Alert put out a report detailing some of the massive subsidies that the Federal & State governments are providing to these companies to help them "invest" in our clean air, green, future of win energy.  You can find the report here.

Speaking of reports detailing spending, don't overlook this one by John R Sweet.  It is worth the read for sure.

Lastly, you can see some of the spending that Iowa itself has reported on its Iowa Office of Energy Independence website.  Here are some of the highlights for those crunched for time:

• U.S. Senate proposed to establish a new 30% investment tax credit for facilities engaged in the manufacture of advanced energy property.  Estimated cost: $1.647 BILLION over 10 years
• Current law provides $3.5 BILLION of New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) available for last year and this year.  However, a new provision will increase the available credits to $5 BILLION per year.  Estimated cost: $815 MILLION over 10 years.

I'm sorry, I just cant write anymore on this; I think I'm going to throw up.  I haven't even gotten into the actual feasability (or LACK THEREOF) on why this is a terrible idea as it sits today.

Now, I'm not saying I'm against wind energy production by any means.  What I am saying is that if this is truly an economical thing to do than business would be doing it on their own.  They wouldn't need that tax payers to come in and provide subsidies, tax credits, cash infusions, and God knows what else just to get them started.

Oh, and not to mention that the cost of the electricity we would be provided would cost us MUCH MORE than we pay right now!  I'll leave you all with that though.  Wanna participate, fill out the comments section below and let me know what you think about all this.

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