Why is wind power so important?
Suzanne Tegen: Wind power is one of the answers to our rapidly increasing need for electricity. It’s an inexpensive inexhaustible resource that we should add to our mix of electricity sources. LIME: What advantages does it have over other renewable sources? Tegen: Wind power is domestic: We don’t rely on other countries with whom we have or may have politically charged relations. It’s clean. Electricity production is the leading cause of some forms of air pollution in the U.S. We get most of our power in this country from old coal plants. Wind turbines produce electricity without contributing to air pollution or global warming. Wind power also has none of the waste, radiation and proliferation issues that go along with nuclear power. When a wind turbine has been erected, the actual source of electricity (the wind) is free! Wind has very low operations costs unlike natural gas, nuclear power, and coal. In some parts of the country (for example, in Texas and Colorado), customers who buy
