The Boston Globe reports that President Obama slammed Romney's positions on the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit in Iowa, today.
OSKALOOSA, Iowa—President Barack Obama assailed rival Mitt Romney's opposition to tax supports for wind power, delivering an Iowa-specific critique Tuesday on the Republican challenger in that crucial Midwestern state. Obama's deputy criticized GOP budget plans to overhaul Medicare, cut trillions of dollars from social programs and lower taxes on high-income taxpayers. ...
Obama, on the second of a three-day Iowa bus tour, noted that Romney once dismissed wind power by saying "you can't drive a car with a windmill on it." ... "I don't know if he's actually tried that. I know he's had other things on his car," Obama joked, referring to the often-repeated tale of a Romney family road trip with their dog, Seamus, in a carrier strapped to the roof of the car.
"But if he wants to learn something about wind, all he's got to do is pay attention to what you've been doing here in Iowa," the president said. ...
"Unlike my opponent, I want to stop giving $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies each year to big oil companies that have rarely been more profitable, and keep investing in homegrown energy sources like wind that have never been more promising," Obama told about 850 people in Oskaloosa, where stacked hay bales and an old, red pickup truck provided the requisite rural backdrop.
Reacting to transcript, released earlier this morning a CNN reporter wondered if it was a "subtle" reminder of the Seamus story. I don't know if the Boston Globe report here, knows for sure, but it's funny either way.
I started this post, based on this earlier report by Amy Garner, of the Washington Post, wrote Wind Energy Will Be Obama Focus Today in Iowa, where the wind industry employs over 7,000. President Obama warned, yesterday, that over 37,000 jobs could be lost if the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit is not extended.
“Homegrown energy, things like wind energy, creating new jobs all across the states like Iowa, and Governor Romney wants to end tax credits for wind energy producers,” Obama told an outdoor crowd in Council Bluffs Monday. “America now produces twice as much electricity from wind as we did before I took office.”
President Obama's campaign released these advanced excerpts suggesting he will slam Mitt Romney for his opposition to the extension of the Wind Energy Production Credit Tax Credit, strongly favored in Iowa, even by Republicans such as Senator Charles Grassley, and Reps. Tom Latham and Gov. Terry Branstad.
“He’s said new sources of energy like these are ‘imaginary.’ His running mate calls them a ‘fad,’” Obama is expected to say. “During a speech a few months ago, Governor Romney even explained his energy policy this way: ‘You can’t drive a car with a windmill on it.’ That’s what he said about wind power. ‘You can’t drive a car with a windmill on it.’ I wonder if he actually tried that. That’s something I would have liked to see.”
Governor Romney's stresses removing regulation, and free market responses, and has opposed extending the Production Tax Credit, many in Iowa see as crucial to producing, and saving jobs in their state.
President Obama has been a strong supporter of wind energy. "According to the Obama administration, the tax credit works in concert with the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit to provide a 30 percent investment credit to manufacturers who invest in equipment for clean energy projects in the United States."
So, expect President Obama to take, much deserved credit, this afternoon, in Iowa, where wind energy represents "nearly one-third of all new energy added last year. Garner noted:
The percentage of components made in the United States jumped from 35 percent in 2005 to nearly 70 percent last year. Overall, the country has doubled its wind production capacity, installing 50 gigawatts of capacity over Obama’s first term, enough to power 13 million homes, or all the homes in Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama and Connecticut combined.
Perhaps, the Romney campaign should strap Paul Ryan to the roof of their campaign bus, given his proven capacity to generate and emit hot air.