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Taxed as the Wind

With coal, oil, and natural-gas prices down, and facing a budget deficit of as much as half a billion dollars, Wyoming is considering raising taxes on the wind, which is also a power source found in the state. “Just about every legislator we’ve met with asks us, ‘You tell us how much we can tax you before we put you out of business’,” said Bill Miller, head of the company planning to build one of the world’s largest wind farms in Wyoming. “I just shake my head and say, ‘Zero’.” Some see the tax as retaliation against a federal attack on coal. Wind power has gotten a lot of subsidies. (AC/Los Angeles Times) ...There’s a lot of wind in Washington, but Wyoming can’t tax that.