Oil industry and wind farms battle for tax breaks

WASHINGTON


Renewable energy has received special tax breaks going back to 1994. However, for those benefits to continue, Congress must cut spending elsewhere or raise taxes to comply with the budget restraints that Congress enacted for the new fiscal year.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., whose state generated 1,163 megawatts in 2007 from wind farms, says a failure of Congress to extend tax incentives for the wind industry would put a “choke hold” on plans to expand wind power.

“They have projects on the books that are not going to move forward if they don’t have predictability,” Cantwell says. “This is a growing industry that we want to nurture.”

With the price of oil topping $100 a barrel, “it’s critically important” to bolster alternative sources of energy, Cantwell says.

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