Wind turbines in southern Minnesota. Photo by Futurism Now.

There is a strange backlash against wind energy all across the country, which is why a lot of financial support for it in any climate bill needs to be there.  In my area, which is quite “conservative” (by which I mean, anti-science and just flat-out obsessed with taxes) one nearby city has preemptively banned wind turbines.   I wish that was a joke, but it’s not.  The article about it in a local newspaper quoted city officials  saying wind was banned  because they were worried people would try to install wind turbines in the future. They have been preemptively banned because they were deemed “unsuitable” for an urban area (“urban” is not how I would describe this small city) and they might tip over.  Yes, wind turbines have been banned in central Minnesota because some people are afraid they might tip over.  By that logic we should ban oil rigs because they might blow up and sink. (Except wait — they actually do that.) (Here’s the story).  It may not be a coincidence that this is Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district.

According to NASA and Climate Progress,  it was the hottest April on record according to NASA data.  They also predicted that this will be a record-setting year for heat.

More significantly, following fast on the heels of the hottest March and hottest Jan-Feb-March on record, it’s also the hottest Jan-Feb-March-April on record. . . .   The record temperatures we’re seeing now are especially impressive because we’ve been in “the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century.” It now appears to be over. It’s just hard to stop the march of manmade global warming, well, other than by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, that is.
Most significantly, NASA’s March prediction has come true:  “It is nearly certain that a new record 12-month global temperature will be set in 2010.?

What is Washington DC doing about this?  Not nearly enough!

American Power Act Contains Little Direct Support for Renewables
Bill introduced by Sens. Kerry and Lieberman lacks a renewable portfolio standard.
Published: May 13, 2010

Washington, D.C., United States — On Wednesday, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) released the details of their energy and climate change legislation. The bill includes few provisions designed to directly support renewable energy. These provisions include a statement from Congress on the importance of large-scale deployment and accelerated progress in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, direction for how the allowances distributed to states and Indian tribes should be used for the purposes of promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, and a statement supporting voluntary renewable energy markets.  Noticeably absent from the package was either a renewable portfolio standard, or renewable electricity standard, which the industry has been lobbying for over the course of the last year.

“The wind energy [...]