To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Don’t let the dirty energy industry kill vital wind power incentives

Please extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for clean wind power and other sources of renewable energy before it expires on December 31. The PTC helps wind energy compete with the highly subsidized, carbon-polluting fossil fuel industry. It helps attract investors for new wind projects, fosters innovation, and employs tens of thousands of Americans.

Why is this important?

Unless we act now, vital funding for clean wind power could disappear on December 31. The Koch brothers and dirty energy companies have been lobbying our elected officials to kill an important tax credit program vital to the success of wind power and other sources of renewable energy. We can't let them succeed.

I am a state senator from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As an elected official and Climate Parents member, I am an advocate for kid-safe, climate-safe energy. Wind currently provides 25% of Iowa’s electricity generation, a feat made possible by the wind power tax credit. Congress must take action to keep this credit and continue to grow our renewable energy industries. If this tax credit expires, it paves the way for more unsustainable dirty energy that puts our climate and our kids in danger.

What happens with climate change in our children's lives depends on the climate action our generation takes. Are we going to increase carbon pollution, fueling climate-related disasters? Or, will we take action to promote safe, clean energy that will allow us to stabilize the climate?

To give our children and grandchildren a chance to live in a healthy world with 100% renewable electricity, Congress must extend this vital tax credit for wind energy.

The Production Tax Credit (PTC) helps wind energy compete with highly subsidized fossil fuel industries. It helps attracts investors for new wind projects. The PTC fosters innovation and employs tens of thousands of Americans in the clean energy economy. The PTC is a winner for jobs, innovation, children's health, and the climate.

Because of wind energy's growing success, dirty energy billionaires, like the Koch brothers, are trying to kill it. According to the Huffington Post (12/9/13), they have "enlisted their extensive network of think tanks, advocacy groups, and friends on Capitol Hill to spearhead a campaign to pull the plug on the PTC."

That's why it's so important we send a strong message to Congress that the Koch brothers and their dirty energy friends don't represent us. They certainly don’t represent the best interests of our kids and grandkids.

Congress has already heard from dirty energy industry lobbyists -- now they have to hear from us. Families across the country need to speak up and tell Congress to save the renewable energy production tax credit for our children, our economy, our health, and our future.