Brownback at odds with Romney over wind energy tax credit / LJWorld.com

Topeka — Gov. Sam Brownback is at odds with his Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney over tax credits to support wind power.

Romney opposes extension of the production tax credit that has helped build wind capacity in the United States, especially in Kansas.

Brownback supports the tax credit as does President Barack Obama.

Brownback said Kansas will see about $3 billion in wind energy investment from the end of last year through the end of this year, which he added is the most in the country "by far."

He said he hadn't looked at the specifics of Romney's position on the wind energy tax credit, but added that it is part of a larger fight over how to fix the federal budget.

Brownback said he supports extending the tax credit for now and phasing it out over three or four years.

"That is what I will be arguing if there is a Romney election and that is what I will be arguing if there's an Obama election," he said.

Earlier the week, the U.S. Department of Energy released a report that showed significant growth in wind energy jobs and investment and called for Congress to extend the production tax credit.

gccs14r 9 months ago

I thought Brownback didn't like Federal money? Oh, that's right, he opposes it only for the poor.

Enlightenment 9 months ago

Also, look at the Federal stimulus money Romney's running mate Paul Ryan from WI tried to get after criticizing Obama over offering the stimulus.

vertigo 9 months ago

You mean DID get.

He didn't just try to get it, he actually got it. And then denied he took it until shown the actual letters he himself signed asking for it.

Katara 9 months ago

Uh oh. Brownback agrees with Obama on an issue. This now makes him the liberaliest liberal Governor that has ever libbed.

hear_me 9 months ago

Didn't he use stimulus money in the Flint Hills for a wind farm project?

Glenn Reed 9 months ago

Only six comments. All of them some form of "Brownback's a hypocrite."

And no one's here to back good ol' sammy.

riverdrifter 9 months ago

I'm probably in the minority here: I think both Brownback and wind energy suck. Or blow. Or suck. Whatever. They're both vile.

Orwell 9 months ago

Big difference. At least when the windmills spin and spin they produce something useful without constantly spewing crap into the air.

Make no mistake, the end of this tax credit will have a disparate impact in Kansas. It will cost jobs in the state effecting the poor and middle class and effect the financiers whom we would agree are the wealthy. That being said and as a Brownback supporter these subsidies should be ended. There has to be a level of intellectual honesty in the political arena. I understand the Governors concerns and his desire to phase them out seems rational but if he believes in the free market there is no place for government to manipulate an industry and pick favorites. If the industry can't survive without support from the tax payers then it is clearly not a legitimate energy alternative at this point.

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