Five states, including Kansas, get at least 20 percent of their electricity needs from wind, but as The New York Times reports, alternative energy investments like wind and solar power have not performed well in recent years.
To make matters worse, the Trump administration has opted for a resurgence of coal and other carbon fuels, not an emphasis on alternative energy.
However, wind and solar power capacity is increasing – wind now produces 5.5 percent of America’s electricity and the installed capacity of solar power nearly doubled last year and employs over 260,000 workers nationwide.
Kansas, which derived close to 30 percent of its electricity from wind last year along with Iowa, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas comprise the five most wind-dependent states in the nation – and each are traditional Republican strongholds. Those states’ reliance on wind and solar power could result in greater Republican support for alternative energy, despite the president’s pro-fossil-fuel stance.
