October 26, 2016

Dear Majority Leader McConnell and House Speaker Ryan:

On behalf of our organizations and the millions of Americans we represent, we write to express our strong opposition to extending expiring renewable energy provisions on upcoming spending legislation.

Congress considered the matter of expiring tax provisions less than one year ago. The $680 billion package signed into law in December made some of these items permanent and allowed more than two dozen others to expire at the end of this past year, laying the groundwork for comprehensive tax reform. The $1.4 billion in expiring tax provisions currently under consideration—pertaining to wind power, geothermal heat pumps, fuel cell facilities, and combined heat and power (CHP) properties—are a distortion of the tax laws for special interests in the renewable energy industry and were wisely left out of this package.

It should also be noted that Congress extended signifcantly favorable tax treatment to renewable energy in omnibus appropriation legislation that accompanied the aforementioned tax extender package. This bill included 5-year extensions of the main federal provisions for renewables, the wind production tax credit (PTC) and the solar investment tax credit (ITC), at a cost of $23.8 billion over the next decade.

Government subsidies, loans, mandates, and tax policies regarding renewables have consistently failed to deliver on their promises of long-term job creation and economic viability. Americans deserve access to energy solutions that are afordable and reliable—ones that should be able to stand on their own in the marketplace.

We encourage you to oppose eforts to use unrelated legislation as a vehicle to extend expiring tax provisions for renewable energy. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Heritage Action for America
National Taxpayers Union
FreedomWorks
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
60 Plus Association
Able Americans
Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions
American Commitment 
American Conservative Union
American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF)
American Encore
American Energy Alliance
Americans for Competitive Enterprise
Americans for Constitutional Liberty
Americans for Limited Government
Caesar Rodney Institute
Center for Individual Freedom
Citizens’ Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE)
Coalition for a Strong America
Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST)
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Concerned Veterans for America
Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal)
Energy Makes America Great
Free Market America
Freedom Partners
Chamber of Commerce
Frontiers of Freedom
Generation Opportunity
Institute for Liberty
Jeferson Project
John Locke Foundation
Less Government
Maryland Taxpayers Association
National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Center for Public Policy Research
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Rio Grande Foundation
Secure America’s Future Economy (SAFE)
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Tea Party Nation
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The LIBRE Initiative
United For Missouri