Columbian - Cantwell Lauded for Work at Port

Columbian - Cantwell Lauded for Work at Port

A small crowd of longshoremen from Vancouver and Longview turned out at the Port of Vancouver on Monday morning to support U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, whose efforts to win tax credits for wind power development have helped swell employment rolls at both ports and boosted economic development in faraway Ellensburg.

With 129-foot-long wind turbine blades as a backdrop, Cantwell, who was in the ninth day of a marathon campaign swing through the state, took credit for helping bring new jobs and tax revenue to Southwest Washington as well as to Ellensburg, home of the Wild Horse Wind Power Project.

Vancouver and Longview are the ports of entry for the Danish-made turbines. When all 130 turbines are installed on a remote stretch of rangeland 13 miles east of Ellensburg next year, they will produce 230 megawatts of power, enough to serve 73,000 homes.

Brad Clark, president of Local 4 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said that since turbine components began arriving at the Vancouver port in July, 30 additional workers have been hired to handle the cargo. The project is expected to generate 28,000 hours of work for longshoremen in Vancouver alone by the time shipments end in October.

"You have helped make the Columbia River a priority in the U.S. Senate," Clark said, addressing Cantwell. "The tax credit has brought strong investment in windpower. It has brought turbines, blades and towers to our ports."

He cited her championing of the Columbia River channel-deepening project, her support for renewable energy production and also her backing for longshoremen during a federal lockout that shut down West Coast ports in 2002.

"ILWU never forgets a friend," he said.

Port general manager Larry Paulson also praised Cantwell's support for environmentally friendly economic development.

Cantwell backed a two-year extension of a production tax credit for wind energy in the massive federal Energy Policy Act of 2005. That tax break will expire in 2008, but Cantwell is proposing another extension, to 2015. She said she pitched the idea to President Bush in a recent White House meeting, pointing out that the federal government hands out $13 billion in tax credits to the oil industry every five years. She said her efforts to win him over were unsuccessful.

"What we are trying to do today is break our addiction to fossil fuels," Cantwell said Monday. "It is being done right here in Clark County. ? Being dependent on countries like Iraq and Iran is not where I want to be."

Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy, which purchased the Ellensburg wind farm in 2004, estimates that the tax credit could save Washington residents $260 million over 10 years.

Kittitas County officials said the $240 million wind project has generated 250 construction jobs and will create 20 permanent family-wage jobs. The project is expected to pump $4.5 million into the county's economy and generate about $1 million in new taxes. Local tire and farm supply stores already have received a boost, said Debbie Strand, a Kittitas County economic development official.

"Central Washington is creating a commodity that is going to be used by the west side," she said.

Cantwell also stopped in Ridgefield on Monday to announce the I-5 Discovery Corridor Project. Ridgefield and Battle Ground city leaders thanked her for her help in securing $9 million for the project.

The money will go toward design, environmental analysis and right-of-way acquisition for the construction of a six-lane interchange at the Ridgefield intersection with I-5. The project will widen state Highway 501 (also known as Pioneer Street), add new turn lanes, sidewalks and bike lanes and improve intersections near the I-5 interchange. The construction will relieve congestion along I-5 and improve the flow of traffic from the ports of Ridgefield and Vancouver, Cantwell said.

Cantwell's work will serve Ridgefield residents well and help bring jobs to the city, said Ridgefield Mayor Gladys Doriot.

Columbian staff writer Jose Paul Corona contributed to this story.

http://www.cantwell.com/news/article/view/?id=76