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Obama Campaign Rolls Out New Ad Highlighting Clean Energy Tax Credits

Kirk Siegler

The economic recovery in the battleground state of Colorado has been less sluggish than some states due in part to a robust clean tech and green energy sector; something that’s not lost on the Obama campaign as it rolls out a new radio ad here this week.

The new ad highlights the President’s support and Mitt Romney’s opposition to extending a popular tax credit on wind energy production.  

The sixty second ad, which is also running in another top-wind producing swing-state Iowa, highlights the President’s support for extending the tax credit that is set to expire at year’s end. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprD6-ZoASM

Mr. Obama has made that pitch numerous times while campaigning along Colorado’s Front Range this year, where numerous clean energy manufacturing companies have relocated in recent years due largely to the expansion of Danish wind blade manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems. 

Vestas employs about 1,700 people in the state, andlast week the company announced it was beginning layoffs globally and here in Colorado due to the uncertainty over the wind tax credit’s extension. 

That announcement coincided with GOP vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan’s first campaign visit to Colorado last week.  Ryan has been a vocal opponent of extending the tax credits in the Republican-controlled House, in fact, calling for the end of most tax subsidies across all energy sectors.  But at the Republican’s only public event here, nary a mention was given to the issue.

The Obama Campaign could get an initial boost from an ad like this highlighting clean energy, but in the end the sector still accounts for a small fraction of the overall economy in this swing state. Most pundits believe the outcome of the race hinges much more on whether the broader economy is still sputtering or showing signs of improving come November.

Kirk Siegler reports for NPR, based out of NPR West in California.