Iowa’s governor is at the American Wind Energy Association’s convention today. The group is meeting in Los Angeles, California. This morning, Governor Chet Culver participated in a panel to tout Iowa’s growing wind industry. Iowa is situated in the so-called "windbelt" and most of the nation’s large windfarms are either in Iowa or within six-hundred miles of the state.
The American Wind Energy Association wants to see 20 percent of the nation’s energy come from "renewable" sources like the wind by 2020. Today, just one percent comes from renewable sources. Iowa currently is the number three state in the nation in wind energy production.
Tuesday morning, Culver will speak at a meeting of executives from wind energy companies, then he’ll meet privately with company execs considering Iowa as a location for a wind farm or wind turbine plant.