Egee 101h-Semester Paper
Egee 101h-Semester Paper
Egee 101h-Semester Paper
Wind Energy
Abstract
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has recently proposed the Green New
Deal in an attempt to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and increase benefits to communities
within the United States. Due to fossil fuels’ damaging effects on the environment and various
communities, there has been a search for an alternative energy source that will be cost-effective,
will mitigate impacts upon local communities, and will limit the negative effects on the
environment. Research shows that wind energy will not contribute to the current pollution and
climate change that the world is facing; however, the companies associated with wind energy are
counteracting this benefit by harming communities during its implementation. While wind
energy has a promising future as a clean energy source, it will not benefit disadvantaged
communities or meet all the goals of the Green New Deal, unless changes are made to current
systems and policies in place for energy companies and government agencies.
Introduction
Due to the increasing concern over how climate change affects both the health of the
Earth and future generations, people are desperately searching for a cost-effective, clean, and
long-lasting energy source to rely on. People are specifically looking at renewable energy
sources as a viable option to replace the current fossil-fuel power plants that dominate the
electricity market. Throughout the debate, solar, wind, and hydropower energies are analyzed
and critiqued to see if they are promising possibilities for the energy future. During the analysis,
it is important to look at how these renewable energy resources not only benefit the environment,
but people as well. Most renewable energy sources are clean and do not contribute to the CO2
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build-up in the atmosphere. However, some of these renewable sources can have farther reaching
negative impacts on communities and people in the United States. This paper specifically
examines the benefits and consequences of wind energy, as well as how wind energy has
This paper will first look at a historical account of wind energy and how it has developed
over the centuries and decades to become the advanced technology it is now. It will then provide
an analysis of the current issues concerning the use of wind energy through the context of the
Green New Deal in the United States. Within these issues, it will analyze how indigenous people
are affected if this renewable energy resource becomes popular around the country. It will also
look at how wind energy not only benefits, but also threatens, the U.S. economy and job market.
Wind energy should be considered an effective and practical option for replacing other fossil-
fuel powered energy sources, but people must also look at all aspects of its practices, and how
groups of people are influenced, so that these practices can be corrected and adjusted to let wind
Literature Review
For centuries, people have been using wind energy for various purposes in the world. The
first account of wind energy being used dates to 5,000 BC when people moved boats along the
Nile River, resulting in faster transportation of goods and food (U.S. Energy Information
Administration, 2018). The use of wind energy for sailing expanded again during the period of
colonization as Europeans travelled to the New World. Europeans learned how to combine
square and triangular sails in the late Middle Ages in order to use wind energy more effectively
and transport consumer goods and their colonial power around the world (Smil, 2006). Wind was
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first used for sailing but has expanded to more sophisticated uses since its energy was first
harnessed.
Windmills became the next innovative technology related to wind energy. Windmills
were invented in the 1600s by the Dutch, who based the design off the waterwheels (Smil, 2006).
After the windmill was introduced to Europe, it was then brought to the Americas to more
effectively “grind grain,...pump water, and...cut wood at sawmills,” (U.S. Energy Information
Administration, 2018, para. 3). In the 1920s, smaller wind turbines were used for electricity in
rural areas, but after power lines and grid-connected electricity became popular in the rural areas,
windmill use dramatically declined, only being used by a few farmers for food production and to
In today’s society, wind turbines are the primary machines used for wind energy. In the
1970s, when oil shortages threatened the energy environment of the world, people began to look
for alternative resources to generate electricity, a viable option being wind energy (U.S. Energy
Information Administration, 2018). The United States started funding projects and research on
wind energy and wind turbines in order to increase its development and growth in the electricity
industry (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d.). Due to federal and state tax incentives and
policies, wind energy became popular in various parts of the United States (U.S. Energy
resulting in the installation of 15,000 medium –sized turbines to provide “enough power for
every resident of San Francisco” (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d., para. 7). Since the late
1980s, wind energy has slowly grown in popularity in the energy industry.
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Although the wind sector has expanded, its growth has caused displacement for various
rural and indigenous communities. Many indigenous communities who do not own their land or
have not been confronted about planned uses for the land (wind farms) are displaced or forced to
cater to the new living environment (Shah & Bloomer, 2018). Additionally, many people in rural
areas will benefit from renting out their land to large companies (Office of Energy Efficiency &
Renewable Energy, n.d.), but may also be displaced due to companies using all their land, as
well as needing to move because of the headaches, sleep disturbances, and decreased quality of
life that can result from living by wind turbines (Jeffery, Krogh, & Horner, 2013).
The United States in particular has been expanding their use of wind energy to create a
cleaner environment. While China is the leading country in wind energy production, the United
States is catching up (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2018). According to the U.S.
Energy Information Administration (2018), the United States generated less than one percent of
their electricity from wind in 1990, but in 2017, has expanded their electricity generation from
wind to six percent. In 2016, over 50 percent of wind-generated electricity originated from wind
turbines in Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, California, and Kansas, locations with favorable wind
conditions (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2017). By 2030, the United States has a
goal of increasing their electricity generation from wind to 20 percent, which will help their
While there has been an increase in wind energy use, there has been a decrease in its cost.
The costs of electricity generated from the wind has dramatically decreased. In 1981, electricity
from the wind cost about 25 cents per kilowatt hour, but in 2008, the cost was between 3.3 and
5.2 cents per kilowatt-hour (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d.) This dramatic decrease has
helped wind energy increase its cost competitiveness with other power plants and energy
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sources. Today, wind energy costs between 2 and 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, which makes it one
of the cheapest energy sources available (Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy,
n.d.).
Discussion
As previously stated, wind energy has both benefits and consequences related to its use. It
is important not to just consider the positive outcomes on the environment; it is also essential to
look at how it affects the different communities involved with its construction and production.
This section will look at wind energy in the context of the Green New Deal in the United
States. This is a resolution that requires a shift to renewable energy resources in order to save the
environment from further destruction, as well as demands related social change for communities
that will be involved in the shift (H. Res. 109, 2019). While the resolution does not list a specific
renewable energy resource to rely on, wind energy is a potential contender, and therefore should
One of the primary goals of the Green New Deal is to increase renewable energy
resources. As the resolution states, they want to have 100% clean energy sources “by
dramatically expanding and upgrading renewable power sources” (H. Res. 109, 2019, p. 7).
While it is a hefty goal, starting with renewable power sources is a plausible first step. Wind
energy specifically is a clean fuel, meaning that it does not produce pollution during its
turbines do not use combustion to generate electricity, and hence don’t produce air emissions”
(para. 7). The use of wind energy signifies that the United States would be decreasing the amount
of CO2 it is producing, and therefore lessening its contribution to climate change and meeting the
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resolution’s goal. Additionally, the lack of emissions will not further health problems like those
associated with the burning of coal: respiratory illnesses, lung disease, and neurological and
developmental damage (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2019). The halt in health
problems caused by emissions will also help the Green New Deal’s plan to manage the health
problems associated with pollution and climate change (H. Res. 109, 2019).
Even though wind energy is a clean fuel, there have been concerns related to its
availability. As President Donald Trump said, “It only blows sometimes,” insinuating that wind
is not a reliable energy source (NowThis, 2019, 0:39). This concern seems to be a false claim not
backed up by scientific evidence. Many studies have reported that while variability does exist
with wind energy (depends on how fast and often the wind blows), this variability can be solved
by storing the generated electricity from wind turbines in grid operators and transporting the
The environmental impacts seem to be neutral, but the social consequences of using wind
energy are less clear. One aspect of the Green New Deal is to protect the rights of and correct the
injustices towards indigenous communities (H. Res. 109, 2019). It is impossible to look at this
though without considering the past and current practices that are in place for companies
Throughout the history of the United States, indigenous peoples have been removed from
their lands and pushed onto lands that the government deemed unnecessary for their uses.
However, the infertile lands that they were relocated to are now good for wind turbines and other
renewable energies, and therefore can currently meet the needs of the United States government
(Shah & Bloomer, 2018). This means that indigenous peoples are again at risk of displacement
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and relocation from the lands they have built their homes on. Many of these indigenous peoples
whose livelihoods are threatened do not have much say in this relocation since many of their
lands are not owned by them, but the government. As said by Shah and Bloomer (2018), because
these indigenous communities do not hold official land titles, the government can grant “titles to
renewable energy companies without consultation, consent, or compensation” (para. 3). In order
to meet the goal of the Green New Deal—“to promote justice and equity by stopping current,
preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of indigenous peoples”—the current status of
land titles needs to transfer ownership to the indigenous peoples that live on those lands, or
acknowledge their right to live on those lands since many indigenous communities do not believe
land should be owned by anyone (H. Res. 109, 2019, p. 5). Without doing this, repairing history
Not only are land titles an issue associated with wind energy construction, but so are the
companies that would be overseeing the construction. The Green New Deal requires that energy
companies and government agencies obtain “the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous
peoples for all decisions that affect indigenous peoples,” but this is currently not happening
100% of the time (H. Res. 109, 2019, p. 13). Many companies make a public statement
committing to honoring the rights of indigenous communities and working with them to establish
a collaborative working environment. However, the research says that these commitments are not
upheld. According to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (2016), “Only 5 out of 50
recognized right to free, prior & informed consent (FPIC)” after filling out a questionnaire.
Companies that do not have due diligence practices do not consider the impact projects can have
on indigenous communities. Honoring FPIC is a goal of the Green New Deal, but in order for
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this goal to become a reality, then more pressure, investigation, and monitoring of companies
In addition to the impacts on indigenous communities, the effects of wind energy on the
economy need to be considered. The job market for the wind sector aligns well with the Green
New Deal’s goal of "high-quality job creation” for the people of the United States (H. Res. 109,
2019, p. 11). A wind turbine service technician is the second fastest growing occupation in the
United States, so by increasing the availability of jobs in the wind energy market, more
technicians will be trained and employed, creating more jobs for United States citizens (Bureau
of Labor Statistics, 2018). In 2016, more than 100,000 workers were hired in the wind sector,
and there is an estimate that 600,000 jobs will be supported “in manufacturing, installation,
maintenance, and supporting services by 2050” (Office of Energy efficiency & Renewable
Energy, n.d., para. 3). This has a promising outlook for people who want and can be employed in
While there is a promising future for employment in the wind sector, other aspects related
to working with wind energy could counteract this possibility. Most of the employment created
by the wind energy industry is temporary, usually only lasting nine to eighteen months (Friede,
2016). There are plenty of jobs available, but maintaining those jobs is the bigger issue. Friede
(2016) reports, “Wind farms require few highly skilled full-time employees for the 30 years that
the projects are in operation,” which could decrease the opportunity available to workers who do
not hold the education needed for those jobs (p. 6). Ultimately, the United States needs to look at
more sustainable employment for their future workers in the wind sector in order to uphold the
Conclusions
Wind energy has a positive impact on the environment, but the benefits associated with
society are questionable. The Green New Deal strives for a cleaner environment while also
respecting the rights, health, and necessities of all communities. The Green New Deal is taking
the right step towards a more sustainable energy source by using wind energy, but some societal
changes need to occur in order to meet all the goals of the resolution.
Wind energy is beneficial in decreasing the United States’ negative impact on the
environment. It does not use combustion, and therefore will not produce emissions or CO2 that
contribute to global climate change and health problems. The variability that is sometimes
questioned when discussing the viability of wind energy is not an issue since the electricity
generated from wind can be stored in power grids. On the flipside though, the social impacts do
not provide as strong of an argument for its implementation. Many jobs are created, but they may
Wind energy still has a promising future in the United States and meets the main goal of
the Green New Deal by reducing emissions. Nevertheless, further research needs to be done
about how to guarantee a secure, democratic, and respecting future for the communities involved
in the shift to renewable energy resources, like wind. This study is limited as it only references
secondary sources and does not look at primary sources recounting the anecdotes of communities
affected by the switch to wind energy. More research should be done to further examine the
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