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| 01 Sep 2009 02:26:11 pm |
 Wind Industry Needs Strong RES, Not Rare Earths |
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Today's New York Times has a major story in the business section about China apparently attempting to corner the global supply of rare earth minerals, which play an important role in a number of manufacturing processes. The story repeats an intriguing, but erroneous, claim that wind turbines are among major green technologies that depend on rare earths. Allow us to repeat that this is not so, as previously explained on this blog.
The bigger theme behind the story, though, is one that should concern all Americans who care about the future of our economy: international competitiveness. The U.S. today has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to foster business investment and new manufacturing jobs, as the global wind industry builds out its supply chain and decides where wind turbine and component factories will be located. The critical policy that is needed to make this happen, however, is nothing so exotic as rare earth minerals--it's the Renewable Electricity Standard, a national commitment to increase U.S. use of renewable energy. As for international competitiveness, a slew of countries around the world have already adopted national goals to increase THEIR use of renewable energy, and are pulling ahead of us in the race for new manufacturing jobs. It's time for us to play catchup, in an area where national action really IS needed. |
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Category : AWEA News
| Posted By : Tom Gray |
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