Wind energy is also a key potential source of sustainable jobs, that are created without adding to air pollution, greenhouse gases, or other types of pollution and environmental damage such as strip mining or oil spills. Revitalizing economically depressed rural communities . . . Communities in rural parts of Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, and other Great Plains states are finding today that wind can be a good neighbor, providing a source of skilled jobs and income to sometimes hard-pressed farmers. Also, wind helps keep dollars spent on electricity in local communities, instead of them being spent to buy fuel from elsewhere. Wind farms can revitalize the economy of rural communities, providing steady income through lease or royalty payments to farmers and other landowners.
Farmers can grow crops or raise cattle next to the towers.
In west Texas, for example, farmers are welcoming wind, as lease payments from this new clean energy source replace declining payments from oil wells that have been depleted. Wind farms also expand the local tax base, and keep energy dollars in the local community instead of spending them to pay for coal or gas produced elsewhere. The savings result because the cost of fossil fuels is expected to rise over time, while wind's costs decline. Using wind power creates local jobs and boosts farm incomes without polluting the air and water, protecting our health and our environment. Wind can provide the electricity we need for sustainable, long-term economic growth.