McCain's tilting at wind turbines (Seattle Times OpEd)

[jpak]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008114559_friedman15.html

John McCain recently tried to underscore his seriousness about pushing through a new energy policy, with a strong focus on more drilling for oil, by telling a motorcycle convention that Congress needed to come back from vacation immediately and do something about America's energy crisis.

Sorry, but I can't let that one go by. McCain knows why.

It was only five days earlier, July 30, that the Senate was voting for the eighth time in the past year on a broad, vitally important bill (S. 3335) that would have extended the investment tax credits for installing solar energy and the production tax credits for building wind turbines and other energy-efficiency systems.

Both the wind and solar industries depend on these credits — which expire in December — to scale their businesses and become competitive with coal, oil and natural gas. Unlike offshore drilling, these credits could have an immediate impact on America's energy profile.

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