While most sectors of the economy are facing tremendous hardship and laying people off, wind energy companies are soaring, vastly expanding manufacturing, creating green jobs and completing record amounts of clean energy projects.

Wind energy’s impressive first quarter (January – March) growth is a clear example of clean energy’s potential to set us on the path of economic recovery. Towns like Braddock, Pennsylvania, were hurting for many years as the global economy expanded, deregulation ran rampant, and corporations found it convenient to ship industries abroad. Wind power, renewable energy and conservation projects have the power to change that, and already are. Check out this amazing video about Braddock’s green recovery and their push for more investments in clean energy.

The growth rate of renewable energy deployment is definitely good news, but still too slow to meet the monumental challenge of solving the climate crisis. Most scientists are saying that we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2020 to stave off its worst effects, not a lot of time for such a drastic reduction.  Right now wind energy provides about 2% of electric production, but the Department of Energy believes the number could jump at least 10 fold by 2030 even without significant technological breakthroughs. That jump would become extremely significant when coupled with serious investments in energy conservation. Accordin to the Rocky Mountain Institute, we have the potential to reduce national energy use by 30% without sacrificing our way of life.

Because of the short timeframe we have to achieve these emissions cuts, we can’t leave it up to the market to come up with a solution. We need a National Climate Stabilization Strategy to make the investments needed to rapidly deploy windmills, solar panels, and geothermal drills deployment and enact smart energy use policies.  The phasing of out fossil power plants by 2020, as called for by the Alliance for Climate Protection, will create millions of green jobs, make a significant dent in our struggle to reverse the climate crisis and improve the health of all Americans.  Call your representative today and tell them you demand a clean energy economy to protect your future and that polluters, not taxpayers have to pay.