Loebsack tours Iowa wind energy farm
Loebsack said the wind farms are very impressive.
“They’re going to have 85 or so of these turbines up by the end of the year and it’s really going to add a lot of energy; good, clean renewable energy for the state of Iowa,” he said. “We’re going to get to the point where pretty soon we’re going to be at maybe 40 percent of our electricity in Iowa generated by wind alone and that’s absolutely fantastic.”
The wind energy, in addition to bringing in jobs, is going to be great for the economy, Loebsack added.
“It’s going to add a lot of money to the local economy and that’s always a good thing. This is, I think, a win-win. There’s no downside to this that I can think of,” he said. “It’s always good to be in this area, especially where jobs are really needed or where an infusion in the economy is absolutely essential. Clearly, there are parts of Iowa where that’s very, very important and certainly in this area it’s a necessity.”
Loebsack said he didn’t think there was any opposition to speak of with regard to the Prairie Wind Farm project.
“Which is pretty unusual nowadays when it comes to the political world,” he said. “As I said, it’s a win for the farmers, it’s a win for the environment, it’s a win for jobs, it’s a win for good, clean energy and this is a great way to do it and I supported the Production Tax Credit for another five years so this can be made possible.”
Loebsack said he is in the midst of an Iowa First tour, looking at education, agriculture and creating jobs.
“There’s so much that I can be doing in my district over that period of time I’m here in Iowa, but you’ve got to pick and choose. We were talking about the renewable fuel standard, talking about a lot of things that are important to farmers,” he said. “Now we’re doing things like this [wind farm]. We’re going down to [Iowa Wood Preservers] next, we’re going to get down there in a few minutes. We’re going to talk to them about the jobs there and what they did to create jobs in that industry and then I’ll be doing education in a couple weeks too. I’ll be at the state fair next week and do a lot of things down there.”