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We are a group of environmental advocates united in providing a one-stop source for Virginia's environmental news. We each focus on different issues, but share the vision of a Commonwealth that preserves and protects its natural resources. Please join us!
What is wind power? How effective has it been as an energy source? For roughly 5,500 years, human beings have harnessed wind, a highly dynamic, unfailingly pervasive aspect of nature for use as a viable source of energy. Wind power is the energy outlet that pushed the first explorers to the new world, powered the agricultural spread of South Asia in as early as 7th century AD, and the highly sustainable, renewable source of power satisfying the energy needs of the world today. It's a veritable no brainer that such a clean source of energy, which yields no harmful emissions, be brought to Virginia, a state still struggling to overcome the 20th century fossil fuel mindset.
Wind energy is one of the fastest growing energy sources in the globe, the world's total wind power capacity doubling roughly every three years. In fact, between the years 2000 and 2006, total wind power capacity more than quadrupled, with Europe at the helm, accounting for just under 50% of the world's total wind energy usage. China, too, has shown a national consensus for developing renewable energy outlets to sustain their rapidly growing country, and in 2010 accounted for more than half of the global market for wind turbines. So where is America, the leader of the free world, the nation which accounts for roughly 20% of the world's CO2 emissions, in all of this?
The U.S., primarily due to a lack of federal consensus on the nature of wind power, and supplemented by the sheer lack of manufacturing capacity to produce such turbines, lags behind the rest of the world, and wind power only accounts for 2.3% of the nation's electricity usage, still far behind the highly toxic and environmentally detrimental coal. However, despite this, it is still one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources in the country, with 37/50 states harnessing the power of the wind in some shape or form. One area in particular which still lacks the wind push is the American Southeast, offering an unbridled opportunity for Virginia to take the helm of this valuable, renewable industry, potentially leading the way to a wind-powered South.
With this, we see the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, which offer strong, consistent winds that act as the perfect catalyst for offshore wind in Virginia, and are not only renewable, but yield no harmful CO2 emissions. Not to mention, such wind turbines have the potential to create tens of thousands of new jobs in the Commonwealth, power hundreds of thousands of Virginians' homes, and generate millions of dollars of economic activity. Clearly, such a prospect carries with it energy, economic, and environmental benefits too great to pass up.
Energize Virginia: A Citizens' Summit on Offshore Wind Power is a chance to meet, greet, and discuss this highly important renewable energy prospect with some of the state's leading green visionaries. The event is from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm, Saturday, June 4th at Richmond CenterStage, 600 East Grace Street. Bringing wind energy to Virginia is a critical step in the process of creating not only an economically and environmentally sustainable Virginia, but a highly sustainable world. Come join us, and be a part of the change that Virginia needs. We hope to see you there!
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