Earth Equity News

Wind Turbines Spread Across the U.S. By Carey Gillam, Reuters, May 19, 2008. "Last year, a record 3,100 turbines were installed across 34 U.S. states and another 2,000 turbines are now under construction from California to Massachusetts. In all, there are more than 25,000... in operation, an investment of $15 billion. On May 12, the U.S. DOE said wind power could provide 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030, or 304 gigawatts, up from the current 16.8 gigawatts. Achieving that will require that wind turbine installations rise to almost 7,000 a year by 2017... The industry appears poised to comply... Sen. Barack Obama has proposed investing $150 billion over the next decade for investments in alternative energy, including wind, solar and biodiesel... [and] Sen. Hillary Clinton [has said the same]... Sen. John McCain... has also said he supports wind energy... [though he wasn't present for a recent key vote -- see CCC Weekend Edition, May 18]. But the greatest concern currently for the wind energy industry is that for all the public support, the Production Tax Credit is set to expire in December."