Scientific American asks whether politics will slow the development of wind power. Apparently, wind farming in the plains states is so lucrative that
Influential natural gas producers and generators in Texas are worried. They are demanding that the state’s wind developers share the costs of backup natural gas generators that must pick up the slack when the wind doesn’t blow. The gas industry, threatened by state policies that promote wind power, is asking regulators to impose penalties on wind generators that can’t deliver scheduled energy when the wind dies down.
In other words, a combination of peak gas power with wind is keeping a big chunk of America from producing CO2 for electricity. New electric lines could bring wind energy from Appalachia to the East Coast and from Colorado to the West coast.
But rather than participate in this new, better way that involves USING THEIR PRODUCT, the gas companies seek to stifle innovation. Change is a threat, so they work the refs — at the state level, where agencies are in deep capture to oil and gas.
The energy companies of the 20th Century are their own best argument for nationalizing the green evolution of our economy. With change coming from the bottom-up, the middle is where the extraction paradigm can finally die.
