For Immediate Release
March 8, 2012
WASHINGTON D.C. — The American Energy Alliance sent two coalition letters to all United States Senators today opposing amendments to the Senate transportation bill that would create new taxpayer-funded subsidies for natural gas vehicles, extend the production tax credit (PTC) to underwrite wind energy, and revive the 1603 Treasury grant program that gives taxpayer money for the installation of solar panels and other renewable technologies.
“The scheme is little different from the federal government’s loan to Solyndra. Banks are willing to loan money to people that present little risk, but Solyndra and natural gas fueling infrastructure obviously present enough of a risk to need a government subsidy,” reads one letter.
“There is no need for Congress to intervene to try to pick winners and loser in the natural gas market — the market is already responding to lower natural gas prices in an efficient and cost-effective way.”
In calling for the defeat of amendments to extend the production tax credit and other renewable energy hand-outs, AEA President Thomas Pyle denounced “the intervention of politicians and bureaucrats in the energy sector,” which has “had devastating economic consequences and led to embarrassing scandals.”
“We urge you to stop digging this hole any deeper, and to spare the consumers and businesses the terrible pain that will surely eventually accrue because of uneconomic sources of energy. After more than 20 years of direct subsidy payments, it is time to tell the mature renewable energy industry to get a job.”
The American Energy Alliance was joined in the letters by Americans for Prosperity, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Freedom Action, The National Center for Public Policy Research, the Sixty Plus Association, and the Club for Growth.
To read AEA’s coalition letter opposing special tax treatment for natural gas vehicles, click here.
To read AEA’s coalition letter opposing extension of taxpayer-funded subsidies for renewable industries, click here.
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