With the price of gasoline in these parts hovering at or above $4 per gallon and with fuel oil to heat our homes far above the $4-per-gallon mark this year, it seems everyone in the North Country has an opinion about alternate energy sources.

Wind farms and solar-energy panels can be seen more and more in the three-county area, and with tax credits available for those who install those renewable-energy devices, more are planned.

You can't pick up the newspaper, read a news magazine, watch television or go on the computer without seeing an article or commentary about alternate energy sources. Even T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire Texas oilman is promoting wind power and natural gas.

That said, it's curious that the U.S. Congress is putting the short-term future of renewable energy companies in jeopardy as many of its members hail windmills, solar panels and biofuels as long-term solutions to high energy costs and the importation of foreign oil.

Over $500 million in investment and production tax credits will expire at the end of this year unless Congress renews them. Without that help, wind-power companies say they'll be forced to reverse planned expansions, cut payrolls and capital investments.

Renewable energy companies have been faced with the issue before. In its wisdom, Congress let the credit expire in 2000, 2002 and 2004. In those three years, wind-capacity installation dropped 93 percent, 73 percent and 77 percent, respectively, from the previous year.

It's been reported by the Associated Press that Navigant Consulting, which advises on renewable-energy technology, estimates that investments in wind and solar power in 2009 could amount to $26.6 billion with the credits. That would fall to $7 billion without them.

Congress's inaction is a risky proposition, from where we sit. Without the tax credits, expansion plans for technology companies trying to ease America into renewable-energy ventures won't happen.

The result? The Solar Energy Industries Association says some 20 utility-scale solar power plants, many in California and together capable of producing power for a million homes, are at risk. The American Wind Energy Association says it's predicting a loss of 76,000 jobs and $11.4 billion in investments if the tax credits expire.

In recent months, we in the North Country have witnessed the construction of several windfarms in northern Clinton County and Franklin County, with more to come. They've improved the employment picture in the North Country as well as added renewable energy to the state's power grid. And that's just here in northern New York.

America can ill-afford the elimination of these legitimate tax credits during these times of renewable-energy challenges.