Obama slams Romney opposition to wind power tax credit
| PUEBLO, Colo.
President Barack聽Obama聽kept the pressure on GOP opponent Mitt聽Romney聽on Thursday in a fight over a聽wind聽energy tax credit, as he stumped in southeastern Colorado, a hub of聽wind聽power.
鈥淎t a moment when homegrown energy, renewable energy, is creating new jobs in states like Colorado and Iowa, my opponent wants to end tax credits for聽wind聽energy producers. Think about what that would mean for a community like Pueblo,鈥澛燨bama聽told a crowd of about 3,500 people at the Colorado State Fairgrounds. 鈥淭hewind聽industry supports about 5,000 jobs across this state. Without those tax credits, 37,000 American jobs, including potentially hundreds of jobs right here in Pueblo, would be at risk.鈥�
With that jab, the campaign welcomed to the trail a perennial feature: the swing state micro-issue.
Whether it鈥檚 ethanol subsidies in Iowa or Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada, candidates have long sought to land on the right side of local concerns out of fear that they can have an outsized impact in an important state. In the case of the聽wind聽credits, the impact could be felt in two key states: Iowa and Colorado, both major producers in the still-nascent industry that is dependent on federal tax credits.
Romney聽has said he does not support the extension of the tax credit, a position in line with his criticism ofObama鈥檚聽investment in alternative-energy production.聽Romney聽has cast聽Obama鈥檚聽green energy push as ill-advised and wasteful, zeroing in on the federal investment in the failed solar firm Solyndra.
But it鈥檚 a position that had the GOP candidate catching flak as he toured Iowa on Wednesday.
Obama聽piled on in remarks on Thursday.
鈥淐olorado, it is time to stop spending billions in taxpayer subsidies on an oil industry that鈥檚 already making a lot of profit, and keep investing in a clean energy industry that鈥檚 never been more promising. That鈥檚 the choice in this election,鈥澛燨bama聽said.
Obama聽also drew a contrast on immigration, ribbing聽Romney聽for his support for 鈥渟omething called self-deportation,鈥� while touting his recent decision to allow some young illegal immigrants 鈥� those brought to the U.S. as children 鈥� to stay in the country.
Obama聽described the so-called 鈥渄ream鈥� kids as American 鈥渋n every single way except a piece of paper.鈥�
