October 24, 2009 - Citizens, scientists and world leaders in 181 countries are taking to nearby streets, mountains, parks, and reefs today to demand strong action on climate change, in what will be the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history.

More than 5,000 rallies and creative demonstrations are taking place, all of them centered on the number 350, to draw attention to 350 parts per million (ppm), which an overwhelming number of scientists now insist is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) has just released the 2009 updates for its highly respected and influential rules and procedures for interconnecting and net metering distributed generation.

Featured in this issue:

• USDA Selects Windustry to Form Landowner Wind Energy Association Resource Center
• USDA Announces $13 Million in REAP Grants and Loans
• Wind Energy Center a Big Success
• Windustry Celebrates Women of Wind Energy: Launch of New Web Site
• Big Green Conference
• Windspiration
• On the Windustry Trail

Windustry has received a grant from the Energy Foundation to continue our work advancing public policies that support Community Wind and community owned renewable energy. The Energy Foundation, located in San Francisco, is a partnership of major donors interested in solving the world's energy problems.

"You'll find that a lot of wind-energy developers are reluctant to come to South Dakota because they don't know anyone and they don't know about our resources," says Steve Wegman of the South Dakota Wind Energy Association

Transmission Lineman
photo: mnorri, some rights reserved

There are many hurdles for connecting renewable energy projects to the existing electric power grid. Transmission lines already operate near full capacity. Substations may not handle new interconnections. Regulatory processes span state and federal authorities, and interconnection standards vary from state to state. Plus, it's not clear how to best allocate costs for infrastructure improvements between utilities, energy developers, and rate-payers.

Washington DC — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced it will provide up to $750 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help accelerate the development of renewable energy generation projects. This funding will cover the cost of loan guarantees which could support as much as $4 to 8 billion in lending to eligible projects, and the Department will invite private sector participation to accelerate the financing of these renewable energy projects.

Durham, N.C. - As the country continues to support greater reliance on wind energy for electricity generation, the wind industry could restore some jobs lost in the automotive industry and create many new jobs across the value chain, according to a new report released by the Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC) at Duke University.