The Wayward Wind

In his story, Natural gas takes breeze from wind energy's sails, the Ragister's Dan Piller tells us -- Iowa, with 2,300 megawatts of wind electricity generation, trails only Texas among the 50 states in wind capacity.

Later in the story, Piller points to Iowa's hopes to become the new Texas of wind energy.

With Texas leading the nation in wind capacity, Texas is the NEW Texas of wind energy and the scientific community is united in that fact.

John Stossel blows holes in wind power...

The problem is that windmills cannot provide a constant source of electricity. Wind turbines only achieve 10 percent to 20 percent of their maximum capacity because sometimes the wind doesn't blow.

If wind and solar power were practical, entrepreneurs would invest in it. There would be no need for government to take money from taxpayers and give it to people pushing green products.

...energy production from every solar panel and windmill in America is less than the production from one coal mine and much less than natural gas production from Oklahoma alone.

But what if we build more windmills?

"One nuclear power plant in Texas covers about 19 square miles, an area slightly smaller than Manhattan. To produce the same amount of power from wind turbines would require an area the size of Rhode Island. This is energy sprawl." To produce the same amount of energy with ethanol, another "green" fuel, it would take 24 Rhode Islands to grow enough corn.