Report Identifies Growth Opportunities for Wind Energy

Regional environmental groups have released a report highlighting a potential for growth in wind energy. The report titled “Wind Energy for a Cleaner America II” takes a look at development of wind energy across the country over the past five years and predicts potential growth for the next five years. Since 2007, the nation’s wind capacity has quadrupled, helping the U.S. avoid nearly 85 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution in 2012 alone. Ben Hellerstein is a field associate for Environment Massachusetts , one of the organizations that released the report. He says if current trends continue, the commonwealth, which ranks 34 th nationally in wind energy production, could increase its output tenfold by 2018. “We are certainly a leader when it comes to solar power and energy efficiency, but we just don’t have that much wind energy capacity installed so far,” Hellerstein said. “The reason for that is because we have not been able to take advantage of off-shore wind development