Julie Wernau reports for Chicago Breaking Business that wind energy production will be an economic boon for the state of Indiana. She writes, “For every megawatt of wind power developed in Illinois, 17 manufacturing jobs are created, according to a new study by the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago. The study, which identified more than 100 Illinois companies that are in the wind industry supply chain, did not identify how many the jobs created are in Illinois, but found that Illinois is fast becoming a hub for the nation’s wind power.”

With the economy struggling, on the … Continue Reading

As tragic as the oil spill is, reports are conflating energy sources that are used much differently. Reuters is one of many papers that fails to distinguish petroleum production for the transportation sector and renewable generation for the electricity sector. Reuters’ Richard Cowen reported on May 4th that Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) “told reporters the oil spill should expedite alternative energy legislation, which would encourage the use of cleaner power sources, such as wind and solar.”

What Reuters and others fail to point out is how little petroleum fuels our electricity sector. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, … Continue Reading

Peter Behr and Jenny Mandel report for The New York Times that “wind power weathered a second year of recession to post new records of generation.”

But what Behr and Mandel do not report is that wind producers are also enjoying record subsidies. The 2009 stimulus bill includes $16.7 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency and $4.0 billion towards loan guarantees for renewable energy. The government handouts already in place helped as well. An April 2008 study of subsidies for the energy industry finds that wind and solar receive over $20 per kilowatt hour in … Continue Reading