Build Baby Build
Jobs are Job 1 at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) conference this week in Dallas.
From the opening speeches on Monday morning to open the conference, it's clear that economic development is what's driving then industry's policy agenda. And it seems to me that it's the way AWEA has chosen to present itself to the public.
The jobs theme was highlighted throughout the speeches by AWEA CEO Denise Bode, political leaders and government officials throughout the opening morning. The wind industry's showcase event is again expected to draw more than 20,000 people.
But maybe the most effective ways to present the theme came down to five people. Theatrical, perhaps, but each person, representing a different segment, in turn stood alone lit by a spotlight on stage to describe their company's role. Most, it seemed, from trucking, development, manufacturing and site assessment, came into wind in the past decade. They ended their presentations by simply saying, "I am the American wind industry."
The slightly different take was presented by the last person in this segment, Jan Blittersdorf, the co-founder of assessment equipment maker NRG Systems, who been part of wind for 30 years. She saw promise abandoned once before, when wind declined in the mid-1980s. She made a point that NRG was able to survive without layoffs when the market crashed in 2008 and early 2009.
There were the speeches from three state governors and members of the Governors' Wind Coalition -Chet Culver of Iowa, Bill Ritter of Colorado and Ted Strickland of Ohio -- each promoting policies that might stabilize the industry and attract manufacturing jobs to their states.
A national renewable electricity standard is again the legislative priority in Washington this year. Even with the exhortations of keynoter Sen. Byron Dorgan promising another push this week, with the first "Champion of Wind" award from AWEA bestowed on him yesterday, it's a difficult task.
The RES would give manufacturers the confidence to expand further, but that was nor persuasive when climate change was a more prominent driver. We'll see this year if oil spilling in the Gulf is a better motivator.
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