Grassley, Merkley, Push for Robust Wind Energy Funding

Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley are leading a bipartisan push for “robust” wind energy funding in the 2020 funding bills.

Grassley, a Republican, and Merkley, a Democrat, call the funding necessary to “continue supporting rural communities, advance domestic energy independence, and ensure America remains a leader in wind energy technology.”  Their comments were sent in a letter to the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.  The senators noted that the wind industry employs more than 100,000 Americans and the wind turbine technician is America’s second-fastest growing job.  The wind industry also employs veterans at a rate that is 50% higher than the national average.

Grassley and Merkley were joined on the letter by a bipartisan group of 17 senators calling The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates distributed wind could be deployed at an additional 49 million sites in the U.S. alone.  Approximately 99% of wind turbines are located in rural communities, and in 2018, winds turbines produced $289 million in annual land lease payments in the United States.

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