Governors seek national power standard to boost wind industry

From an article by Kim Chipman on Bloomberg.com:

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Congress must set a national renewable-power standard and revamp the electric grid to help the burgeoning U.S. wind-energy industry reach its potential and compete globally, governors from 29 states said.

A jumble of state laws should be replaced by a federal edict, according to a report from the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, which includes California, Florida and Massachusetts. The plan would help spur development and efficiency, which would create jobs, curb greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce dependency on oil imports, the coalition said.

The absence of such a standard is hurting the U.S., the governors said. China installed more wind-energy generators last year than any other country, doubling the nation’s windpower capacity, according to data released by the World Wind Energy Association last week. U.S. capacity, still the largest in the world, rose about 39 percent.

“The lack of a long-term renewable energy requirement in the United States is resulting in the loss of wind-manufacturing investments in our states to Europe and other areas,” the governors said in the report.