"Wind-energy production in Iowa has massive potential to reap an economic and environmental windfall for consumers," Grassley said. "The prairie windmills that generated power for homesteads and small farming operations in the last century are being replaced by high-tech turbines capable of serving entire communities in the 21st century."
Grassley has been leading the effort in Congress for renewable wind and biomass energy. His wind energy proposal was included in the tax relief bill vetoed last month by President Clinton. Today the Senate Finance Committee included the wind and biomass bill in another tax relief plan.
Grassley said his wind energy and biomass bill builds on an effort started in 1992, when he authored the first-ever production tax credit for wind and biomass energy. The tax incentive for wind and biomass energy expired on June 30. Grassley's bill would extend and expand the proposal until the December 31, 2000. "This tax credit is good public policy," he said. Every 10,000 megawatts of wind energy produced in the United States can reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 33 million metric tons by replacing the combustion of fossil fuels.
The clean, controlled combustion of biomass ? which includes switchgrass produced in Southern Iowa ? is a proven application that fights pollution and helps waste management.
The 1992 law restrictively defined qualifying biomass processes by requiring taxpayers to grow biomass crops solely for the purpose of combustion. This theory proved to be uneconomical, and taxpayers were unable to use the tax credit. The bill passed today would rewrite the law to allow tax credits for clean combustion of wood waste and similar residues. "It only makes sense to encourage the conversion of 20 million tons of waste into clean electricity each year," Grassley said. "Biomass facilities are making a valuable contribution to a cleaner environment, but we have left them in a financially precarious position without favorable tax treatment."
Grassley said his legislation would restrict qualifying biomass materials to organic, non-hazardous materials that are clean burning. Grassley developed the initiative approved today following a visit last year to Iowa's Chariton Valley Biomass Project. "The economic and environmental potential is tremendous," he said. A recent study found biomass crops could produce $2-5 billion in additional farm income, and supply as much as seven percent of the total electricity generated in the United States.
Grassley's bill has been advocated by environmental groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In 1992, the American Wind Energy Association named Grassley its "Senator of the Year" for his promotion of this renewable resource. "I want to help make the most of the wind that blows across Iowa. Homegrown resources ?made in Iowa' help loosen our dependence on finite fuels and foreign oil," he said. Last year, Grassley spearheaded a successful battle to keep the farmer- and consumer-friendly ethanol program intact to 2007.
