Read more comments on Twitter @ELPCenter #ptcbriefing

Fox Business News reported the story here.

Equipped with the PTC, the wind energy industry has contributed impressively to U.S. economic development. During this free ELPC webinar, ELPC and wind industry executive Scott Viciana discussed the impact of the PTC and proposed legislation to extend it.  If you weren’t able to listen in to the live webinar, you can download the slides and listen to the audio for free.

Midwest Democratic and Republican Senators were joined by a bipartisan majority of their colleagues in the vote to reject Senator Rand Paul’s S.J. Res. 27 by a vote of 56 to 41.

“We commend the Senators who voted today to protect public health, clean air and the Great Lakes from harmful pollution,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “It’s time for the owners of old, highly-polluting coal plants to invest in modern pollution control equipment. They should move to a level playing field with the companies that have already cleaned up their plants.”

The Cross State Air Pollution Standard will prevent up to 34,000 premature deaths, 400,000 asthma attacks, 15,000 heart attacks, and 19,000 hospital visits each year starting in 2014.

“Senators Brown, Durbin, Franken, Johnson , Kirk, Kohl, Levin and Stabenow recognized their constituents’ support for common-sense standards that will protect public health,” said Learner.

South Dakota Wind Energy Association Executive Director Steve Wegman told the South Dakota Argus Leader that wind energy has poured more than $2 billion into the state since 2002.

ELPC’s Sioux Falls-based Policy Advocate Matt McLarty said, “If we want developers to invest billions of dollars in wind farms and create thousands of new jobs here, the federal government must create a stable, predictable tax climate that encourages long-term investment.”

Read the article in the Argus Leader.

Speakers included:

• Bruce Knight, Dairy Advisor for Strategic Conservation Solutions, LLC and former Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service at the USDA under President Bush
• Bennie Hutchins, Principal, Ag Energy Resources, Mississippi
• Bill Midcap, Farmer and Rural Development Specialist, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Colorado
• Andy Olsen, ELPC Senior Policy Advocate

REAP incentivizes a broad range of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies for all agricultural sectors across the country.  The program has helped thousands of rural producers and businesses slash energy costs and earn new income with energy efficiency and renewable energy.  Dairy and poultry producers, rural electric cooperatives, and other rural producers and small businesses throughout the country are successfully using REAP. The Energy Title is helping to accelerate advanced biofuels and bioproducts production, chiefly through the Biorefinery Assistance Program and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP).

To learn more, visit ELPC’s dedicated website, FarmEnergy.org.

You can also listen to today’s briefing on BarnMedia.

“Preventing just one death is heroic, and EPA’s new pollution reduction standards do even better by preventing tens of thousands of premature deaths and heart attacks and avoiding hundreds of thousands of illnesses.

Reducing soot and smog can alleviate asthma and help people’s health in ways that make good economic sense.  The EPA’s Cross State Pollution Rule will generate up to $290 billion in annual health and welfare benefits, which greatly exceeds the pollution clean-up costs.

These long overdue clean air standards will create new jobs as utilities hire skilled workers to install modern pollution control equipment and replace the oldest, most highly polluting coal plants with cleaner new energy sources.

Today, we celebrate the beginning of a healthier nation and a stronger economy by reducing air pollution that has been both harming our health and draining our wallets.”

Read US EPA’s final cross-state air pollution rule here: http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/

Download ELPC’s mercury report here.

###

The Environmental Law & Policy Center is the Midwest’s leading environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization. www.ELPC.org

The resolution recognizes that, among other benefits, the Clean Air Act has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and is estimated to provide up to $40 of health and economic benefits to Americans for every dollar invested.

The resolution comes at a time when some members of Congress are attempting to weaken the clean air act and restrict its ability to protect public health and the environment. The Senate is expected to vote soon on up to four amendments that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to reduce carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act. ELPC commends this resolution and opposes efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act.

Take action to protect the clean air act here. Read the Senate resolution here.

Hundreds of farmers, ranchers and businesses are making greater profits and slashing energy costs with REAP. Mindi Grieve of the Environmental Law & Policy Center and Dennis Rodin of USDA’s Office of Rural Development explained the program and answer your questions.