Wind Energy

yet another example of how far ahead europe is in the alternative energy business. germany is the world's leader in wind energy production and technology. ambitious alternative energy projects are under way in countries that signed and ratified the kyoto treaty. germany is one of the prime examples of the economic benefits of all that nasty regulation that conservatives hate so much here in america. anti-regulation lobbies in the united states claim that they 'hurt' business, always raising the specter of lost jobs and disincentives to investment.

these lobbies are there to protect *existing* business interests. their myopic stance on greenhouse gas regulations never take into account the fact that these regulations actually encourage investment in new technologies and new companies that lead to job creation. there are a lot of unemployed american engineers who could be working for alternative energy companies as opposed to wasting their skills and experience working the slave wage positions currently being created in our so-called 'recovery.' the anti-kyoto lobby merely wants to preserve the status quo for a cadre of ossified, stagnating industries that would rather continue milking their heavily subsidized cash cows than engage in the risky endeavor of investing in new, relatively untried technologies themselves, much less competing with younger, more dynamic companies.

their efforts betray what is best about modern capitalism -- competition and innovation. what they represent is the nineteenth century capitalism that allowed a small number of large monied interests to virtually control the national economy. prior to that much-hated post-Depression round of regulation, capitalism provided great value to that small number of people whereas the rest of the country were subject to frequent devastating market crashes, horrible working conditions, and barely liveable wages.