After returning to session in Washington for just two weeks, the House of Representatives ran back home this week to campaign for their jobs. They won't be back again until after the November elections.
They left a lot of unfinished business, including renewal of the Production Tax Credit for wind energy -- a 2.2-cent per kilowatt-hour tax credit that expires at the end of the year and has helped the wind industry grow. America is already seeing the consequences of Congress's inaction. Over the last several months, approximately 2,000 workers in our domestic wind industry received pinks slips - and thousands more are feeling the threat of looming job loss.
Those directly affected include workers like Ryan Motel, a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 2635 who worked at the Gamesa wind turbine factory in Ebensberg, PA until a few months ago when he was furloughed. Gamesa, with its North American headquarters in Philadelphia and two factories in Pennsylvania, furloughed Ryan and 164 of his co-workers while waiting to hear the fate of the Production Tax Credit.
Congress needs to see the faces of workers like Ryan Motel - and support homegrown wind power and the economic, employment and environmental benefits it can produce. That is why the BlueGreen Alliance is kicking off a weeklong bus tour today in Pennsylvania and Ohio featuring Ryan and other wind industry workers. They will travel to the doorsteps of House leaders in Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania to show them the human cost of their inaction.
It is time for Congress to take action. If the Production Tax Credit isn't renewed, 37,000 workers like Ryan could lose their jobs. And in this economy, every job counts. Both parties in Congress say creating and securing jobs is their top priority, and we at the BlueGreen Alliance stepped forward with Jobs21! -- a plan to create millions of good jobs that are also good for the environment.
Our members of Congress need to do their jobs, live up to their rhetoric and renew the Production Tax Credit for wind energy -- and they must do it before the end of 2012.
Ryan is traveling across the country to deliver that very same message. Help him make the trip by supporting the tour.
Thank you.
David Foster
Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance
P.S. Want to follow the bus tour? Check out our blog for updates and follow us on Facebook and Twitter .