by Richard W. Caperton, Matt Kasper, and Nicholas Richter

Despite pledging to protect American employment, Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney opposes critical clean energy policies that will encourage investment and create jobs on American soil. Gov. Romney wrote in a Columbus Dispatch op-ed that, “In place of real energy, Obama has focused on an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy. This vision has failed.”

How does this translate into policy? Take Gov. Romney’s opposition to the production tax credit, which provides a tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for the production of electricity from wind energy. According to Navigant Consulting, allowing this credit to expire would cost 37,000 American workers their jobs. This position has put him at odds with other prominent Republicans such as Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Terry Branstad, both of whom recognize the value of this incentive in boosting employment in their state. In fact, more than 81 percent of installed wind capacity is located in districts with Republican representatives.

Although Gov. Romney touts his tenure at Bain Capital as valuable private-sector experience that gives him a business-minded approach to jump-starting our economy, four ...

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