Wind industry outlines priorities for this year

The wind industry is calling on lawmakers to pass this year a “long-term energy plan” that includes tax incentives for wind energy and a renewable electricity standard.

The American Wind Energy Association, the wind industry’s national trade group, said Friday that it has managed to get by in 2010 without a “long-term U.S. policies toward renewable energy.” But the group warned that the policies are needed — the third quarter of this year was the worst since 2007 for the wind industry, AWEA says.

AWEA CEO Denise Bode also railed against what she called "fossil fuel-funded attacks" on renewable power. “In 2010, fossil fuel-funded attacks put U.S. incentives for wind power at risk,” Bode said in a statement Friday. “Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal editorial page has been running a series of one-sided challenges to renewable energy, while overlooking all the negative effects of conventional sources, including their enormous costs to taxpayers.”

Sarah Howell, AWEA’s spokeswoman, said the group will be pushing for inclusion in energy legislation of a renewable electricity standard, which would require that a certain percentage of the country’s electricity come from renewable sources like wind and solar power. But Howell said the group is not advocating for a specific percentage. “Right now, we just want to keep it in the vocabulary.”

Howell also suggested the trade group would not immediately dismiss proposals that broaden the standard to include natural gas, nuclear and coal with carbon capture technology. “It's something we'd have to look at to see what it's like,” she said. A number of Republican lawmakers and some Democrats have signaled their interest in the proposal, which is often called a clean energy standard.

It’s unclear what shape an energy bill might take next year, though a slew of lawmakers have said they would like to revive energy talks.