May 24 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Jack Z. Smith Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas



The U.S. wind industry "is on the edge of explosive growth," but for that to become reality Congress must adopt a national standard calling for a specific percentage of electricity to come from wind power and other renewable sources, American Wind Energy Association Executive Director Denise Bode said today.

AWEA, whose annual conference is drawing approximately 20,000 people to the sprawling Dallas Convention Center this week, favors a so-called "25 x 25" renewable electricity standard, or RES. The standard aims for 25 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass by 2025.

"Congress, by not acting, is allowing our lighthouse to dim," Bode said.

A bill pending in a U.S. House committee calls for a 15 percent RES, but U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he favors a 20 percent standard by 2021. He said he hopes the House will adopt the legislation this summer and move it the Senate. Some states already have adopted higher renewable standards.

 With a massive oil spill now polluting the Gulf of Mexico and endangering wetlands and wildlife in Louisiana and other coastal states, AWEA is seizing the moment to promote wind energy, which it says already has created 85,000 U.S. jobs and can help reduce reliance on foreign energy supplies and pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Wind "is pure, clean, abundant and protects consumers from fuel price volatility," Bode said.

She noted that Texas, the nation's leading oil- and natural-gas producing state, also is the runaway leader among the 50 states in installed wind generation capacity at 9,506 megawatts and set another record Sunday for peak wind generation. "Texas is No. 1 in yet-another resource, wind, and this one will never run out," she said.

Among the speakers touting wind energy was David Ferebee, vice president of marketing for Fort Worth-based Lone Star Transportation, which hauls huge turbine towers and blades to remote wind farms in locations such as West Texas. The firm, one of about 1,300 exhibitors here, is increasing its fleet capacity to be able to transport wind equipment "anywhere in North America," Ferebee said.

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