Winning Wind Power
According to a new report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), as of 2008 the U.S. has become the world’s largest player in terms of total wind power installations. With a total installed capacity of 25 GW installed, the U.S. has now officially overtaken Germany, with 24 GW of wind.
The U.S. wind energy industry installed 8,358 MW of new generating capacity in 2008, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). AWEA says the combined development channeled investment of some US $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country today.
“The U.S. wind energy industry’s performance in 2008 confirms that wind is an economic and job creation dynamo, ready to deliver on the President’s call to double renewable energy production in three years,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “The hope is that provisions such as those included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act bill to restore the effectiveness of the tax incentives for renewable energy will quickly become law and provide the capital needed to continue to build projects,” said Bode. “Because wind projects can be built quickly, positive legislation from Congress will have immediate and visible effects. Looking forward, it will also be important for the new Administration and Congress to put in place long-term, supportive renewable energy policies to make the new clean energy economy a reality.”
Wind energy is a smart, practical investment. I’ve seen windmills that were hundreds of years old still in operation doing the work for which they were originally built. The fuel to run them still costs today what it cost the day they were built—-exactly 0. It is also an investment that puts citizens’ money to work in their own economies rather than transferring it to a handful of fuel-exporting nations that may not always be “friendly”.
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