A Green Economy
Energize The U.S. Economy
Some people believe that helping the environment can come at a steep price, but in fact wind energy is cost competitive with other forms of energy production. As wind turbine technology continually improves and the government provides more incentives for wind energy producers, wind may very well become the cheapest source of energy. With the boom that the wind industry has been having, companies are providing more and more jobs to American workers while injecting money into local economies. Even in the midst of an economic downturn in 2008, wind energy had a banner year, as over 8,000 megawatts of new generating capacity were installed in America last year. That figure accounted for over 40% of all new power generation added that year, and represented an investment of approximately $17 billion.
In 2008 alone, the wind industry invested $17 billion into the U.S. economy. The share of domestically manufactured wind turbine components also grew from under 30% in 2005 to approximately 50% in 2008. Approximately 85,000 people are currently employed in the wind industry, up from 50,000 a year ago. Overall, experts estimate that between 250,000 and 1,000,000 million new green jobs will be created over the next ten years. Clearly the benefits of wind farms are not limited to the environment. With the rapid growth of the industry in the past 5 years, wind energy is proving to be a solid investment in both America’s economic and environmental futures.
Reduce Our Dependence on Foreign Energy
Because wind power is produced domestically and delivered to American neighborhoods, it reduces our dependence on foreign sources of energy. Wind farms offer America an opportunity to improve domestic energy security. For that and other reasons, the Obama administration has identified renewable energy as a target sector for federal investment, specifically recognizing wind energy as critical to U.S. energy independence and security. The administration, environmental groups, economists, scientists and business leaders believe wind energy is a substantial and economically attractive energy resource.
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