Udall: Latest Layoffs Show the Cost of Congressional Inaction on Wind Tax Credit
Mark Udall said Vestas’s latest round of layoffs — the second this week — underlines the need for Congress to give the wind energy industry the long-term certainty it needs to invest in Colorado and support good-paying, stable jobs. Udall said these layoffs, which affect Vestas’s Windsor facility, lay bare the need to quickly extend the wind Production Tax Credit.
“The wind Production Tax Credit supports middle-class families across Colorado and the country. Those jobs — and our long-term economic and energy security — depend on American manufacturing and Made-in-America energy,” Udall said. “Congress’s failure to quickly extend the PTC is pushing this promising industry backwards, costing hard working Coloradans their jobs. Nonetheless, I remain committed to working with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to immediately extend the PTC as soon as Congress returns to Washington.”
Udall has visited Vestas’s facilities throughout the state and has decried previous layoffs in Colorado and throughout North America.
Udall has been a longtime and steadfast advocate for extending the wind Production Tax Credit. He has given 19 speeches on the Senate floor, detailing the positive effects of the wind energy industry in states across the country. Since starting his campaign in June, a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers have joined him, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Last week, Udall joined with Michael Rucker, CEO of Boulder-based juwi Wind, in calling on Congress to extend the wind Production Tax Credit. And earlier this month, Udall spoke with former Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the importance of the PTC and why Congress needs to extend the PTC as soon as lawmakers return to Washington.