The Public Utility Commission of Texas has approved $5 billion worth of new power lines that will carry wind energy from the western part of the state to more populated areas.
This article in the Houston Chronicle says it will give a major boost to a state that is already leading the country in wind-generated power:
It should boost the state’s wind farm business, already the largest in the nation, to even greater levels. It would increase capacity for wind generation to 18,456 megawatts.
The plan, which is expected to be finalized later this month, is a middle ground between five scenarios ranging from $3 billion to $6.4 billion.
Tom “Smitty” Smith, Texas director of Public Citizen, said Texans will ultimately benefit from higher levels of renewable energy.
“What this will net is significant long-term savings because we will not be burning nearly as much natural gas, and it will reduce the overall cost of electricity,” Smith said. “It also will create significant new jobs and reduce pollution in our urban areas.”
The CEO of the 
The Missouri Renewable Fuel Standard requires gasoline to be blended with 10 percent ethanol when ethanol is cheaper than conventional gasoline. This price provision means ethanol cannot increase the cost to consumers, Marshall said.
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded grants of up to $40 million over five years for two small-scale cellulosic biorefinery projects, one in Wisconsin and one in Louisiana.
The survey of 1,200 registered voters conducted June 23 – July 1 also revealed that nearly half of Americans believe that skyrocketing gasoline and fuel prices are the factors most responsible for rising food prices. 
The survey was commissioned by the 
It would be one of the first commercial plants of its kind in the world, according to Ed Shonsey, HR BioPetroleum chief executive officer, and adds to several major isle biodiesel projects announced in the past two years.
Sarah Steelman, who is also the State Treasurer, has now switched her position to opposing Missouri’s mandate that requires that practically every gallon of gasoline sold in the state must contain at least 10 percent ethanol. Just earlier this year, she had backed the mandate, but now has sided with Big Oil’s contention that it is raising food and fuel prices… a contention her opponent in Missouri’s August 5th Republican Primary, Congressman Kenny Hulshof refutes with plenty of facts from ag and non-agricultural sources in this article from the 
Even with all of that growth there is one place where the wind industry is falling short. “Man power, there is a shortage of man power to man the wind turbines that are being operated across the country and that is where our program comes in,” Zeits said.
“They are definitely growing [in popularity],” says Ron Stimmel of the AWEA, the national trade association for the wind energy industry. Sales of turbines that generate 2 kilowatts to 10 kilowatts of electricity, the smallest category of turbine and the ones most likely to be in residential use, have been rising nearly 25% annually, he said.