Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center -- TexasI found quite a few interesting articles on the NPR.com about Texans moving towards renewable energy projects in a massive way.
While the Preface to Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0 mentions a massive wind power expansion of 23,000 MW capacity (equal to the output of 23,000 coal plants), what he doesn't mention explicitly is that the driving force behind the Texan interest in wind power has very little to do with averting disastrous global climate change. In fact, according to this article from NPR.com, the state government's Republican leaders don't even believe in global warming -- an opinion shared by many Texans themselves.
What is happening in Texas is the greatest example of the environment benefiting from human greed and our incredible ability to pursue our own self-interests. Texans are building wind power because it makes them money, and that's it! While I think this article takes a more romantic view on the matter, it does a great job of describing how the West Texas town of Roscoe has gotten behind wind power in hopes of saving their debilitated economy. While the majors of many Texas cities are pushing environmental policies in the face of failing state leadership, I think the road most Americans will travel towards sustainability will originate from their pocketbooks and not their hearts.
For this reason, the story of Roscoe is a hopeful one, because it didn't take a plague of locusts to happen. All it took was one person who noticed renewable energy is worth more than failing cotton crops.
UPDATE: West Texas's 63 MW Snyder Wind Project is now home to the world's tallest wind turbines. Read about it at METAEFFICIENT.
While the Preface to Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0 mentions a massive wind power expansion of 23,000 MW capacity (equal to the output of 23,000 coal plants), what he doesn't mention explicitly is that the driving force behind the Texan interest in wind power has very little to do with averting disastrous global climate change. In fact, according to this article from NPR.com, the state government's Republican leaders don't even believe in global warming -- an opinion shared by many Texans themselves.
What is happening in Texas is the greatest example of the environment benefiting from human greed and our incredible ability to pursue our own self-interests. Texans are building wind power because it makes them money, and that's it! While I think this article takes a more romantic view on the matter, it does a great job of describing how the West Texas town of Roscoe has gotten behind wind power in hopes of saving their debilitated economy. While the majors of many Texas cities are pushing environmental policies in the face of failing state leadership, I think the road most Americans will travel towards sustainability will originate from their pocketbooks and not their hearts.
For this reason, the story of Roscoe is a hopeful one, because it didn't take a plague of locusts to happen. All it took was one person who noticed renewable energy is worth more than failing cotton crops.
UPDATE: West Texas's 63 MW Snyder Wind Project is now home to the world's tallest wind turbines. Read about it at METAEFFICIENT.
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