OK, so I know that I just linked to Glen over at The Wind Blog, but holy synchronicity, Batman! He's been at a wind conference, and the talks he went to on the third day were all about the manufacturing supply chain for wind turbines (both in the US and Canada). He says:
I recall a comment from Fred Gallagher, a former President of the CanWEA. He made this comment in about 2002. He said political support for wind will never be strong or sustainable until Canada develops a supply chain, that has many jobs dependent on the industry. In Germany, 10’s of thousands of wind industry employees marched on the Bundestadt when the government talked about changing its pro wind policies. The policies did not change.
I hadn't actually thought about that when I posted last week about where our solar system parts come from. But Mr. Gallagher is exactly right -- when American jobs are supporting the wind and solar industries, then politicians will actually have to care about the clout of renewable energy companies and supporters. So, um... Buy American (Solar)(And Wind)(And MicroHydro)!
