Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
It’s time for the Iowa Energy Center to update its Web page. A report released today by the American Wind Energy Association notes that, for the first time, Iowa has surpassed California to become second in the nation in wind power generating capacity.
The new listings, based on 2008 year-end numbers, have Texas in the number one spot with just over 7,000 megawatts of generating capacity from wind power. Iowa follows with 2,791 megawatts. California, Minnesota and Washington round out the top five with 2,517, 1,754 and 1,447 megawatts, respectively.
While Texas, which in terms of square miles could hold five states the size of Iowa, leads in both wind capacity and largest installed wind farms, both Minnesota and Iowa now generate more than 7 percent of their electricity from wind. In fact, Texas didn’t even make the top five cut of states that are generating the highest percentage of their electricity from wind.
Although Iowa and Minnesota can take pride in their top standings on the list, the gains might be temporary. While Texas and California have a combined 1,926 wind power projects currently under construction, the two Midwestern states have 20 — all of them in Iowa. And, at least in Iowa, stimulus monies appear to have come too late to save several wind energy jobs at Clipper in Cedar Rapids and Acciona in West Branch.
Denise Bode, chief executive officer for the American Wind Energy Association, seems to understand the economic realities impacting the wind industry in Iowa and across the nation. “[W]e cannot rest on past achievements,” she said in prepared statement released in conjunction with the organization’s report. “We need the right policies in place for our industry to maintain its momentum.”
In particular, the organization in calling for a government mandate for utilities to generate 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.
The full report is available at the AWEA Web site.
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