Renewable energy leaders respond to election results
Power EngineeringÂ
Several renewable energy leaders have voiced their approval over the re-election of President Barack Obama and renewable energy advocates who won races in the House.
Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said that solar power has seen tremendous growth since Obama took office, increasing by 400 percent – from 1,100 MW in 2008 to 5,700 MW currently. In addition, the Obama Administration enacted a policy allowing solar installations for the first time on public lands and set a goal to permit 10 gigawatts of additional renewable energy projects on public lands by the end of 2012, “which has been a great driver of this growth.”
Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said that several “wind champions” were re-elected to Congress, including Reps. Dave Reichert (R-WA), Steve King (R-IA) and Tom Latham (R-IA), and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV). “Swing states such as Iowa, Colorado, Michigan and Ohio with numerous wind farms as well as wind factories went for President Obama, whose campaign took the position that the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) should be extended.”
