Three articles in Recharge (http://www.rechargenews.com/ ) on July 28, 2011 tell the story of America's dawdling entry into a growing 21st century industry: offshore wind turbines.
One article states that "offshore wind farms are 'presently the largest construction projects going on in Europe.'" Two companies, Dong of Denmark and Siemens of Germany, connected 101 offshore turbines "to Europe's grids in the first half of the year." As Germany turns away from nuclear power, its government will invest at a greater rate in offshore wind turbines.
A second article describes the efforts of two American senators to pass a bill that "would help provide the stability and visibility needed for investors to kick-start the US offshore sector." Because Congress has never passed any long-term legislation to nurture offshore wind turbines, investors will not risk their money in "this fledgling industry."
Thus, "there are currently no US offshore wind facilities." Zero.
Senator Tom Carper, Democrat of Delaware, and Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, "were among a group of senators that last year called for long-term production tax credits for deepwater offshore wind, though the proposal came to nothing."
One proposed wind turbine project, off the Delaware coast, "would create 1,200 jobs during construction and 300 permanent operational posts over the next 20 years."
Minimal legislative support from Washington means limited investment, which means limited job growth. Meanwhile, the American economy remains stagnant, unable to pull itself out of the recession.
In a third article, the Spanish wind turbine company Gamesa states that the US market is "among those where demand is 'subdued or growing more slowly than expected, partly because of a lack of regulatory visibility.'" Gamesa will expand instead in India and Brazil.
The picture is crystal clear. The boys who control Washington do not want clean energy.
John Slade
Woodgate International
http://www.woodgateintl.com/
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