Repower America Opens South Dakota Office

Repower America, Al Gore's clean-energy advocacy organization, is setting up shop in South Dakota. The group is throwing an opening reception this evening at its new Sioux Falls digs (335 N. Main, Suite 200).

Some choice stats from Repower America about South Dakota:

• South Dakota gets 46% of its electricity from coal.
  
• South Dakota ranks 4th in the U.S. for wind power potential.
• South Dakota is currently using just 0.16% of that wind power potential.
• South Dakota could generate 180 gigawatts of wind power. The back of my envelope says that's over 40% of the United States' annual electricity consumption... or enough electricity to power the 177 least-power-using countries and territories on the planet, about a quarter of the world's population.
  

Or think of South Dakota's wind potential this way: our potential 180 gigawatts is 9% of the world's electricity demand. Saudi Arabia produces 10.5% of the world's oil. South Dakota really could be the Saudi Arabia of wind... if we could just build power lines to Tuvalu and the Gaza Strip....

Welcome to the show, Repower America! We South Dakotans look forward to adding your voice to our effort to build clean power and kick the fossil fuel habit before it kicks us!