Texas wind rangers?

by Josh Loposer
Nov 29th 2007 @ 7:13AM

Filed under: Alternative Energy

In a state known for its cowboy mentality, colossal CO2 emissions, and more recently a sausage fanatic who is pissed off at Jimmy Dean; it comes as a bit of a surprise that it can also brag about one more thing -- leading the country in wind energy production. Jumping ahead of California last August, Texas' wind farming potential has become the interest of many green investors -- and ranchers. West Texas towns like Roscoe, previously drying up and blowing away, are getting a major lift from companies like Airtricity from Dublin, Ireland, which recently invested $1 billion towards building windmills in and around the town.

According to the experts, west Texas might possibly be the nation's bread basket of wind energy, due to its average wind speed of 17mph. This is good news to rural residents, who have been watching their way of life virtually disappear for the last several decades. If these investments pan out, wind farming enthusiasts like Cliff Etheredge (see photo) may get streets named after them -- but not exactly for leading the environmental cause.

Ironically, many of the new crop of wind farmers are not big proponents of global warming ideology, but instead see the windmills as a way to remain afloat economically. Not that they don't see the benefits of a clean, renewable energy source, but as one farmer put it:

"Everybody likes crisis-type situations and [climate change] has gotten very popular, particularly with the media and so forth."

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