Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Climate change concerns, which have been so inluential in catalyzing
wind power development in other nations, have had less sway over energy
policy in the United States. his is because perhaps more than anywhere else
in the world, in the United States the science of climate change has been
aggressively challenged by fossil fuel special interest groups.
Since the Obama administration has been in power, climate change
policy in the United States has somewhat gelled, culminating in the 2009
Copenhagen Accord where the United States committed to a 2020 GHG
emission reduction target of 17% below 2005 levels. However, public per-
ception has not necessarily followed suit. In 2009, an Angus Reid poll
determined that 80.1% of American respondents were either completely or
mostly convinced that global warming is a reality.
53
Yet in a separate poll the
same year, only 33% of Americans polled saw global warming as
very seri-
ous
, and only 34% attributed global warming to human activity, with 48%
attributing global warming to long-term planetary trends.
54
Paradoxically,
yet another Angus Reid poll determined that 59% of Americans surveyed
felt that the United States should take action on global warming even if
other nations do less.
55
If these surveys are accurate (the margin of error
is estimated at 3.5%), despite the fact that only 34% of Americans believe
that global warming is caused by human activity, a majority (59%) feel that
action should still be taken to mitigate the problem.
In sum, public support for enhanced domestic security, NIMBY opposi-
tion to nuclear power, and a prevalent undercurrent of support for mitigat-
ing climate change has engendered support for wind power development.
Even during a political era when a high degree of polarization exists between
Democratic and Republican voters, there is a high degree of general sup-
port for clean, domestic energy development, provided that a transition can
be facilitated in an economically efective manner. However, this does not
mean that there is uniform support for wind power. Indeed, states vary sig-
niicantly in terms of endorsing wind power development. As of 2011, there
were still 14 states that had less than 2 MW of cumulative installed wind
power. On the other hand, Texas currently boasts over 12,000 MW of wind
power capacity, followed by California and Iowa with over 5000 MW each
and Illinois and Oregon with over 3,000 MW each. hese ive states together
constitute about 50% of America's total wind power capacity.
Although geographic conditions and settlement patterns play roles in
framing wind power development prospects, there are other sociocultural
inluences that also impact political support for wind power in a given state.
For example, wind power in Texas, Iowa, and Minnesota is seen as an eco-
nomically advantageous investment for farm owners and has therefore
received broad public support.
56
In California, there is strong environmental
