What AWEA Doesn’t Want You To Know About Wind Power

Renewable Electricity Standards and Other Pro-Wind Policies

In 2011, wind energy generated 2.9 percent of our electricity. And, yes, its level of generation has more than doubled since President Obama has taken office. While there is no doubt that his policies have benefited the wind industry, the major policy influencing wind power growth has been renewable electricity standards that 30 states and D.C. have requiring a specified amount of electricity be generated from qualifying renewable technologies by a certain future date. Both these mandates and subsidies have led to wind being used even when it is destructive to wildlife and detrimental to other technologies on the grid.

Wind, like all sources of energy, has both good and bad attributes. Some of the attributes people seldom consider when thinking about wind is, for example, its propensity to kill birds, bats, and other flying objects that come within its path, cause noise pollution which deprives people of sleep, require large land areas for its turbines, and provide only a fraction of the electricity that traditional technologies provide.

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