U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

December 12, 2007

CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630
Cody Wertz 303-350-0032

Senator Salazar Praises Defeat of Anti-Small Wind Amendment

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, as the United States Senate continues work on the 2007 Farm Bill, the Senate defeated an amendment (79-14) offered by Senator Lamar Alexander that would have limited Senator Salazar’s small wind tax credit that Senator Salazar fought to include in the bill.

Senator Salazar’s small wind tax credit provision makes small wind technologies more accessible to homeowners, ranchers, farmers and small business owners. It would create a 30% investment tax credit (up to $4,000) for the installation of small wind systems, typically less than 10 KW. The total cost of the credit is only around $5 million for 2008. Senator Salazar’s provision would be the first federal small wind tax credit in more than 20 years.

“This Farm Bill is fundamental to our clean energy future,” said Senator Salazar. “The U.S. is the world-leader in wind technologies, and small wind has huge potential in the U.S. But, quite frankly, we’ve been ignoring its possibilities for too long. We should be working to get these clean energy technologies out the door, so that more property owners and business owners can cut their energy bills and have a cheap, renewable source right at home.”

Senator Alexander’s amendment would have undermined the effectiveness of Senator Salazar’s provision. It would have limited the tax credit to farms and rural small businesses (as defined by the IRS), and it would have excluded rural residential property and commercial property suitable for small wind applications. There were two fundamental flaws with Senator Alexander’s amendment.

  • It would have resulted in thousands of missed opportunities. Rural residents, larger businesses, and people who just don’t fit into one of those IRS categories – but who want to utilize small wind systems and who live in an area zoned appropriately – wouldn’t have had access to this tax incentive.

  • Having the U.S. Senate deciding which property owners should and should not install a wind system would be dangerously close to a federal zoning decision. The federal government should stay out of it. Zoning and land use planning decisions are state and local matters, and they should remain that way.

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