Alternative energy could take a step forward in Pennsylvania after the US Senate Finance Committee voted late last week to renew a tax credit for wind power.

Several Republicans joined Democrats in support of extending the credit for one more year at a cost of $3.3 billion. Larry Thomas, general manager of Energy Hardware, which manufactures supplies for G-E and others in the wind industry, says renewable energies should be supported like the fossil fuel industry.
 

 
House approval of the wind power tax credits is not certain – their action will have to wait until Congress returns to Washington in September.  A 2011 report from the American Wind Energy Association estimates wind power in Pennsylvania has created three-to-four thousand jobs and estimates those projects will help the state avoid over 1.34 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.