Report Proves Wind Energy Holds Lucrative Benefits-

According to a report organized by the Iowa Policy Project, a nonprofit Iowa-based research group, wind energy accounts for up to 20 percent of statewide electricity production and maintains reduced power costs – among the lowest in the nation. The study discredits critics who argue that renewable energy projects and similar measures that battle climate change are too costly and inefficient. “Those people who tell us we can’t do anything about global climate change because it will be too expensive are wrong, and Iowa is proving that,” says David Osterberg, an Iowa Policy Project researcher and one of the authors of the study. The study confirmed that wind energy produced 3,670 MW of electricity statewide; and if that power were to be employed exclusively within the state, it would generate enough renewable electricity to power 940,000 homes. Upon receiving news of the recent report, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, remarked that, “Iowa has been a leader in producing wind energy and is poised for even greater results in the future. This renewable energy source has not only helped power Iowa, but at the same time has created green jobs for Iowans. The wind energy tax credit that I authored has been a tremendous impetus for the state to harness the power of wind for both clean energy and good paying jobs.”