Iowa leading the way in wind energy

In the July 15 guest column “A bright future,” Kimberly Dickey provided a great snapshot of the state of renewable energy in Iowa.

A poll conducted by Washington Post-Stanford University shows 77 percent of Americans believe there's a correlation between human activity and climate change. This same majority believe Earth is warming, with 55 percent suggesting it's up to the U.S. government to develop a solution and 61 percent saying businesses need to address the issue. This proves our conversations have evolved from “is global warming happening and can we reverse the trend” to “what can be done and who should be responsible for taking action.”

Iowa is a leader in wind energy with 20 percent of electricity generated by wind turbines. With the new tax incentives for solar energy and federal credits for geothermal installations, our state can continue to be a renewable energy leader.

A coalition of more than 30 organizations and businesses provided that vision by developing the Iowa Renewable Energy Jobs 2020 initiative. The goal is to create 20,000 jobs in the renewable energy industry by 2020, saving Iowans $1 billion per year in energy costs.

To learn more, visit www.iowarenewable

energyjobs2020.org.

Cheryl Valenta

Climate advocate

Cedar Rapids