Wind Revenue

Wind Revenue

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
I've heard some rumblings about wind generators killing birds but let's talk positively. Phillip Warburg is author of the book Harvest the Wind - a journey one man took around the middle of the U.S. to see the huge impacts that wind energy is having on rural farm communities. One of the biggest benefits farming communities mentioned about wind energy are lease payments paid to landowners - which Warburg says are a valuable buffer against the uncertainties of weather and a great hedge against the ups and downs in grain and cattle prices. "Crops can fail and cattle herds may have to be sent to feedlots early, that is what happened during last summer's terrible drought. Wind farm payments are guaranteed and they will continue to be a sure bet for a quarter century or more."

Another benefit people in rural communities mentioned to Warburg are the jobs created by wind energy. In many rural communities - he says wind farms brought the first big infusion of new jobs in decades. "The security created by the jobs, many people in the wind industry take great pride in their work. They are getting in on the ground floor of an exciting technology. This could be as important to America in the coming century as oil has been in the past 100 years."

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