Wind Energy Could Reduce Pollution Equivalent to Half a Million Cars in Georgia

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Environment Georgia Research & Policy Center

Savannah, GA — The carbon pollution equivalent to over 500,000 cars could be eliminated in Georgia if wind power continues its recent growth trajectory, according to a new analysis by Environment Georgia.

“Wind power can replace the dirty energy sources of the past and the pollution that comes with them,” said Jennette Gayer, Director with Environment Georgia. “But we need to act now to ensure a clean energy future.”

Continued, rapid development of wind energy would allow the renewable resource to supply 30 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030, providing more than enough carbon reductions to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan.

The analysis predicts offshore wind will expand significantly in Georgia over the next 15 years, producing enough power for 302,680 homes.

The report, More Wind, Less Warming, comes in the same month the comment period closed for the Clean Power Plan, which Congressional leaders are trying to block. The analysis also comes as lawmakers jockey over the fate of wind energy tax credits in the nation’s spending plan.

America has the potential to power itself 10 times over with wind that blows both over land and off the East Coast. Offshore wind development, which is in its very nascent stages in the U.S., is critical to achieving the 30 percent target, the report said.

“Speeding the development of pollution-free wind energy will slow global warming,” said Gayer. “That’s why our leaders should invest now in healthy air and a healthy planet.”

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