Wind Energy Production in Wyoming

The American Anthropological Association recently released a story discussing the sustainability movement in the United States. More specifically, the article covered the push to incorporate clean energy sources, focusing mainly on wind power. The article claimed that as society move close to unanimously accepting that global warming is indeed taking place that we as a culture are adapting to lifestyles that are economically and environmentally feasible.

Wyoming in particular is experiencing changes on all levels during the implementation of wind energy as a main clean energy source. Being a republican dominated state, however, the discussion of sustainable progression is often found to be weighed down with red tape and political jargon here in our windy state. One look at the Wyoming state legislature would give any audience a clear understanding of the difficulties we as a state face. Just in the last Congress alone there were multiple bills which proposed addition regulations be place on the production of wind energy.

The main bill which found its way to the floor of the Wyoming state legislature was a bill intended to establish wind as a property right. Similar to current legislation which claims minerals rights and land rights to be separate, this bill would have establish the same protocol for wind. In theory this would protect land owners from signing over land to be used for wind production without a clear understanding of what such production would entail. In addition it would in theory protect land owners from selling certain property rights with the understanding that no such production would actually ever take place. Often in the midst of political and economic talk, it is easy for uneducated citizens to become manipulated, an event which the legislation would be intended to protect citizens against. The problem with such legislation, however, is that it continues to slow the movement towards sustainable, clean energy. We must find a balance.