The following letter was submitted Sept. 6 by R Street and 63 other allied organizations to every member of Congress.
September 6, 2012

Dear United States Senators and Representatives:

The principal federal support for wind energy, the so-called Production Tax Credit (PTC), is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. The undersigned organizations and the millions of Americans we represent stand opposed to extending the wind PTC. This special provision continues the deplorable practice of using the tax code to favor certain groups over others.

Whenever the government protects a particular industry, as it has with wind energy production, the industry tends to remain dependent on it. As Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman noted, “The infant industry argument is a smoke screen. The so-called infants never grow up.” The wind PTC, like other green energy incentives, is a prime case in point. The PTC was created in 1992 to get the wind industry off the ground. Yet 20 years later, we have little to show for it. We’re still providing a $5 billion special tax break each year for an industry that supplies just over 2% of our power.

If a new technology truly has worthwhile benefits for American consumers such as lower cost, higher efficiency, or environmental benefits, then that technology will demonstrate its value by competing in the open market for consumers’ dollars—not by living off of special provisions in the tax code. American consumers—not Washington lawmakers—should decide the future of American energy.

It is time to end special tax provisions that distort the energy market and increase energy prices. We urge you to let the wasteful wind PTC expire as planned at the end of the year.

Sincerely,
James Valvo
Director of Policy
Americans for Prosperity

Phil Kerpen
President
American Commitment

Wayne T. Brough, Ph.D.
Chief Economist and VP for Research
FreedomWorks

Myron Ebell
President
Freedom Action

Duane Parde
President
National Taxpayers Union

Eli Lehrer
President
R Street

Dan Greenberg
President
Advance Arkansas Institute
John Droz, jr.
Executive Director
Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED)

Thomas J. Pyle
President
American Energy Alliance

Donald Ferguson
Executive Director
American Tradition Partnership

Bill Wilson
President
Americans for Limited Government

Jon Morehouse
President
Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy (WI)

Dick Ludwig
President
Calumet County Citizens for Responsible Energy – Calumet County (WI)

Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom

Bill Pascoe
Executive Vice President
Citizens for the Republic

Francis X. De Luca
President
Civitas Institute

Joseph Zampogna, PhD
Member
Clear Skies over Orangeville (NY)

Chris Chocola
President
The Club for Growth

Jonathan Bydlak
President
Coalition to Reduce Spending

Robert E. Aliasso, Jr.
Co-Chair
Coalition for the Preservation of the Golden Crescent (NY)

Tom Brinkman Jr.
Chairman
Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST)

Matthew J. Brouillette
President & CEO
Commonwealth Foundation

Marlo Lewis
Senior Fellow
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Janet B. Steck
Secretary
Concerned Citizens for Sustainable Energies (NY)

Kathy Boser
President
Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County (NY)

Alice Swift
Concerned Citizens of DeKalb County (Indiana)

Mary Brandt
Concerned Citizens of Smelser & Paris Township, Grant County residents – Grant County (WI)

Dave Vind
Concerned Citizens of Trempealeau County – Trempealeau, Monroe, Rock, La Crosse, and Dane counties (WI)
Pamela Winchester
Spokesperson
Concerned Residents of Hammond (NY)

Tom Schatz
President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Tauna Christensen
Director
Energy Integrity Project

Anthony Carter
Co-President
Finger Lakes Preservation Association (NY)

Brenda Salseg
Forest Voice – St Croix County (WI)

Gerry Meyer
Forward Wind Factory Victims Coalition Fond du Lac County (WI)

Trent England
Vice President of Policy
Freedom Foundation

Jamie Fletcher
Founder
Glenmore Constitutional Coalition (WI)

Thomas Marks
Executive Director
Great Lakes Wind Truth, US

Kate Simon
Member
Informed Citizens of Michigan

Andrew Langer
President
Institute for Liberty

Jon Sanders
Director of Regulatory Studies
John Locke Foundation (NC)

Jim Timble
Spokesperson
Lee County Informed (IL)

Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring

Seton Motley
President
Less Government

Bonnie Oleksa
Founder
Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association (OH)

Amy Ridenour
President
National Center for Public Policy Research

Lew Uhler
President
National Tax-Limitation Committee

Kevin Gurall
Director
Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed (ME)

Donna Davidge
Protect Our Lakes (ME)

Paul J. Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation (NM)

Sue Sliwinski
President and Founder
Sardinia Preservation Group (NY)
Richard C. Watts
Vice President
Save Our Beaches (Cape Cod, Massachusetts)
Fred and Laurie Werner
Sheboygan County Communities for Responsible Energy (WI)

Jim Martin
Chairman
Sixty Plus Association

Rick Bonomo
Author
Stop Lookout Windpower (PA)

Joshua Sewell
Senior Policy Analyst
Taxpayers for Common Sense

Marianne Gasiecki
State Coordinator
Tea Party Patriots in Ohio

Bob Moran
Tehachapi Area Communities for Responsible Energy Development (California)

John Colyandro
Executive Director
Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute

Carl Bearden
Executive Director
United for Missouri

Martin Mangino, Ph.D.
President
Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment (VA-SEEE)
Central Virginia Chapter

Morton Blackwell
Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch

Barry Funfar
Wind Wise – Massachusetts
Wind Wise – Cape Cod

Steve Deslauriers
Media Contact
Wisconsin Citizens Coalition

Lynn Korinek
Executive Team
Wisconsin Independent Citizens Opposing Wind Turbine Sites (Windcows)

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