The Saudis have America over a barrel

Shifting to more electricity opens profitable new investment opportunities in developing vast wind resources. According to the Department of Energy, the U.S. has enough harnessable wind power to satisfy its electricity needs several times over. Moreover, wind-generating capacity is growing fast. Between 1995-2003, it increased from 1,600 to 6,400 megawatts.

The advances in wind turbine design that offer inexpensive electricity from wind help explain why some 22 states now have commercial scale wind farms pumping electricity into the local grid. With a renewal of the wind production tax credit--designed to establish parity with the subsidies for fossil fuels--growth could be even faster in the years ahead, creating thousands of new jobs.

We have spilled more than enough blood and spent more than enough of our treasure to protect access to Middle East oil supplies. RAND Corporation analysts calculate that, even in peacetime, it costs at least $30,000,000,000 per year to maintain the U.S. military presence needed to assure access to the region's oil. It is time for a change. What the world needs now is not more oil, but more leadership.

Lester R. Brown, Ecology Editor of USA Today, is president of Earth Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., and author of Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.

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