If a key tax credit isn't renewed, America will lose jobs and the momentum it is making toward a clean-energy future.

Wind power is the second-fastest growing energy source in the U.S.So say the leaders of wind energy companies and environmental groups, who fear that Congress may not renew the production tax credit, which expires at the end of this year. The tax credit is the primary cost-saving policy for the industry.

Executives say extending the tax credit would not only benefit suppliers and manufacturers, but also the estimated 75,000 people employed by the industry.

As one expert points out, wind power is the second-fastest-growing energy source in the country, generating enough energy for 10 million homes. With more than 60 percent of a wind turbine’s components produced in the United States, wind power is an unqualified American manufacturing success story.

But while there appears to be support on both sides of the political aisle for the credit, election year politics have gummed up Washington's legislative agenda. The fate of the production tax credit -- and the clean-energy sources it helps tap -- will most likely remain unclear until after the presidential election.