Well, not long after T. Boone Pickens announced his plan to put up wind turbines from the Texas panhandle all the way to the Canadian border, did Rockport, Missouri announce that it is now the first 100-percent wind powered city in America.
Of course, it helps that Rockport only has 1,300 residents and only four wind turbines were needed to power the entire city. But, that’s beside the point. The point is that they were the first and they have thrown down the gauntlet for other cities to follow.
The Loess Hills Wind Farm was built by Wind Capital Group and the John Deere Corporation. The turbines are currently producing twice as much electricity as needed by the city and they will be selling the excess energy back to the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities.
The four Suzlon 1.25-megawatt wind turbines were built and installed by 500 workers from 20 different states. If T. Boone gets his way (and when hasn’t he) these green collar jobs for the wind turbine industry won’t be going away anytime soon.
As surely as the wind blows and U. S. energy consumption increases, so will the jobs for green collar workers nationwide. Rockport, Missouri is an inspiring starting place. Now, which town wants to be second?