Wind Energy

The most harmful impact of human consumption on the environment is the production and use of energy. We use this energy to make electricity, which is responsible for air pollution, water pollution, oil spills, and radioactive waste. It is a large contributer to acid rain, to global warming causing greenhouse gases, and to ozone smog. In order to reduce these harmful effects on the environment the United States, and countries around the world, are turning to alternative methods of producing energy. Wind power is created by wind turbines, which convert wind energy into usable energy for human consumption. This method does not cause the adverse effects, explained above, that power plants have.  It does not pollute and does not create any waste.  As reported by the Energy Center of Wisconsin “for every thousand kilowatt hours of energy generated from the wind instead of coal we avoid 2,200 pounds of carbon dioxide, 9.4 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 4.6 pounds of nitrogen dioxide.” The environmental savings of wind power is a great asset, as it does not require resource mining or transportation of these resources to a different location to be processed, and could produce up to 20% of energy in the US by 2030. The industry has also created thousands of green jobs and promoted the thought process of making environmentally sustainable changes. People opposing wind energy believe they are too noisy, not aesthetically pleasing, and not a sufficient alternative. To stimulate the initiative Congress passed a Tax credit in 2008 providing incentives to companies producing wind energy. This year, the tax credit isn’t scheduled to be renewed, which puts thousands of jobs in jeopardy, and takes away important steps in moving toward green energy sources. To show your support for wind energy innovation you can sign a petition to keep the tax credit. Visit Wind Energy Petition,