For the past few weeks, I have taken to the U.S. Senate floor to convince my colleagues to save a bright spot in American manufacturing jobs: the wind industry.

The wind energy sector employs 75,000 hard-working Americans in well-paying jobs – 6,000 jobs in Colorado alone. Those jobs have a tremendous positive ripple effect in their communities that extends to our economic and energy health.

In just the past four years, wind represented 35 percent of all new power capacity in our country – second only to natural gas. Last year alone, more than 100 different wind projects were installed – ranging from a single turbine to over 4,000-megawatt-capacity plants. From just five in 2005, domestic and international manufacturers grew to 23 at the end 2011. Vestas has a big presence in Colorado with facilities in Pueblo, Windsor and Brighton.

The wind Production Tax Credit, or PTC, has been a key factor in this growth by helping make wind energy, which is still being commercialized, more economical for Americans.

However, this critical tax credit expires at the end of this year. There are rumblings in Washington that we ought to leave a vote on its extension for the lame-duck session after