Hate to keep banging the green power drum. But the story today is that Michigan has decided to join the pursuit for America's energy independence.
No, car makers in Detroit didn't submit to modern fuel efficiency standards. But the business leaders and the governor did announce a major wind project. In doing so, they also revealed just how quickly change can happen for a battered state struggling to reinvent itself for the 21st century
By spring 2008, 32 wind turbines are expected to be up, turning, and generating enough energy to power 15,000 homes, according to a press statement from Wolverine Power Cooperative. The $90 million Harvest Wind Farm, located in Huron County in Michigan's thumb region, will be the state's largest commercial scale wind development yet.
"Projects like the Harvest Wind Farm and investments in the alternative energy industry are key to our economic future," Michigan Governor Granholm said in a press statement. "They create jobs and help diversify our economy - two top priorities for Michigan."
Surely one of the great unifying ideas in the Great Lakes region today is the notion that energy innovation can stregthen America abroad, generate jobs, safeguard the environment, and help transform the Rust Belt for the modern era.
The announcement from Michigan is a promising sign that one of the nation's most innovative and capable state's is turning a deeper level of its attention to advancing more sustainable development. Now, about all those proposed coal plants........
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