4/17/03

To the editor:

I was glad to see Michael Hill’s article on wind energy in last Sunday’s Buffalo News. In response, I offer two predictions. One - the rapid growth of this clean, renewable source of energy will be recorded as one of the key developments of the early 21st century, and two - that “lake effect” will someday be associated as much with Buffalo’s favorable winds as it is with our snowstorms.

Hill pointed to some of the obstacles to the growth of wind development. These are important to note, but not insurmountable. If News readers want to help, a good place to start is by calling their Congressional representatives and urging them to support the renewal of wind tax credits and the Renewable Energy Production Incentive.

And let’s not let obstacles obscure the big picture. As Lester R. Brown points out in the book Eco-Economy, with a 25% annual rate of growth in the 1990-200 decade, wind is far and away the world’s fastest growing source of energy. This will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

By the end of 2003, it is expected that enough wind energy will be generated in the US to power 1,500,000 American homes –see “Wind Power Outlook 2003” at awea.org. This emerging technology can cut air pollution, reduce dependence on foreign oil, put a major dent in greenhouse gas production, and stabilize energy prices.

If we deftly play the hand that nature has dealt us, our location could once again be our destiny, as it was when the Erie Canal fueled Buffalo’ first boom.

We are fortunate to lie at the downwind end of Lake Erie. Prevailing Southwest winds can pick up speed over more than 200 miles of open water before reaching here. The wind speeds measured for years at the Coast Guard station at the mouth of the Buffalo River indicate that we have a valuable resource at our disposal. Not only that, huge tracts of land lie fallow in the direct path of this wind. Buffalo and Lackawanna could easily become the world’s leaders in urban wind development, which in turn could have tremendous spin off effects for the local economy.

I urge the Buffalo News to keep following the wind development story as it breaks, covering all sides of this remarkable change in the way human beings generate energy to sustain our lives.

Bill Nowak

Buffalo, NY