It was nice to read in the Dec 2 News Tribune that the Port of Duluth in 2020 has imported 520,000 tons of wind-turbine parts from overseas suppliers around the world. Nice for the port employees and owners.
My questions are these: Why are we importing these parts, which are made, in large part, of steel, aluminum, copper and fiberglass? Why can’t we make these items ourselves and employ thousands of people from mining and manufacturing? Are wind turbine parts beyond our capacity to produce here in the U S?
It seems we have mandated a percentage of electrical energy be made carbon free. I have no problem with that; it is a very good thing. But why have we not also mandated that the manufacturing of green-energy products be done in the U.S.? There are a lot of closed factories and a lot of unemployed people around.
Ironically, we pay for these imported wind-turbine parts with our electrical bills. In fact, we can pay a higher rate and get our power from a renewable source. Part of the money we pay every month for our electrical bills goes to pay overseas manufacturers — while mining and manufacturing in the U.S. stay slow or idle.
I would just like to offer a guess to my questions: European energy companies would not be allowed to use major components made outside of their own spheres.
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Bryce Makela
Duluth
