The Senate Finance Committee voted to renew a tax credit for wind power that is set to expire at the end of this year, with several Republicans joining Democrats to support extending the credit for one more year at a cost of $3.3 billion. [New York Times]


The provision, which will apply to projects under construction by the end of 2013, was included in a $200 billion package of popular tax breaks that the committee passed on a bipartisan 19-5 vote. The bill is expected to go to the Senate floor when Congress returns from summer recess, although it is unclear if the House will take up similar legislation.

The wind industry considers the subsidy, called the production tax credit, to be vital as it tries to make wind power more competitive with electricity generated from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. Wind farms can generally choose to receive a continuing credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced or receive a one-time payment equivalent to 30 percent of the cost of developing a project.

Even as the drought worsened in the Midwest and Great Plains, Congress proved unable to provide relief for farmers and ranchers before leaving for a month of campaigning. [Los Angeles Times]

In yet another display of the inexorable interdependence of Earth’s ecosystems, a bad summer for Midwestern farmland has turned out to be a good one for life in the Gulf of Mexico. [New York Times]

The high temperature in Oklahoma City topped out at 112°F for the second straight day, extending the streak of consecutive 100°F days to 16. [Climate Central]