Record Year for US Wind Power in 2012

In 2012 wind energy was the leading source of new energy generation providing 42 percent of all new generating capacity in the US. According to the AWEA, during the course of 2012 America installed 13,124 megawatts (MW) giving the nation 60,000 MW (60 gigawatts) of cumulative wind capacity. This is a new record for installed wind energy eclipsing the previous record of 10,000 MW installed in 2010.

Lead by Texas, California, Kansas, Oklahoma and Illinois, wind energy grew by 28 percent in 2012 and poured $25 billion of private investment into the US.

Hurricane Sandy Shows Us What Climate Change Looks Like

While climate change may not have been a high profile issue in the 2012 Presidential elections, the super-storm known as Hurricane Sandy will not let American voters forget the dire implications of a world ravaged by climate change. Even before hurricane Sandy strikes the US, it had already killed 65 people in the Caribbean. Sandy is almost one thousand miles across (1600 kilometers) and it will affect people from the East Coast to the Great Lakes. The mega-storm threatens 50 million people, many of which are expected to be left without electricity for days. In addition to the wind and rain, snow is anticipated to follow the initial onslaught. In places like the mountains of West Virginia weather forecasters are calling for as much as 3 feet of snow. A total of 7,000 flights in and out of the East have also been canceled due to the storm.