This decline in costs and surge in growth means that it is realistic and affordable for the U.S. and the world economy to supply a more significant share of electricity from wind power plants. Farmers in Iowa and Minnesota, where more than half of the new wind projects have been built over the past year, supplement their income by leasing land for the installation of wind turbines while continuing to farm around the towers. There's also more income for the local communities in the form of an expanded tax base. Texas has the potential to power one third of the nation. California, with the largest wind generating capacity installed to date, ranks only 17th among the nation's top twenty states for wind energy potential.
Many states have excellent wind resources that can begin to be tapped today.
Wind energy cannot be used to fully power an electric system as winds are variable and the electricity they produce is intermittent. That goal can be achieved and exceeded if the industry's current rapid growth rate is maintained and if measures to encourage the production and purchase of wind power are implemented. In total amounts, in 1997, American power plants emitted 12.2 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 7.4 million tons of nitrous oxides, and 250,000 tons of particulate matter. They consumed nearly 900 million tons of coal and more than 125 million barrels of oil. Older, dirtier power plants are often exempted from meeting air pollution standards set under the Clean Air Act, as it was expected that they would be soon put out of service and replaced with cleaner, more efficient plants.