Wind turbine tower plant coming (Iowa, 400 area jobs)

[jpak]

http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2007/10/09/news/01.txt

Keokuk will move from Iowa's industrial sidelines into the limelight Wednesday with the announcement of a major wind turbine tower manufacturing plant planned for the city's Mississippi Riverfront. The new industry is expected to provide about 400 jobs in the area.

Gov. Chet Culver, who is making a “Bringing New Jobs to Iowa Day” loop through the state, will join Keokuk Mayor Dave Gudgel, billionaire entrepreneur Ken Hendricks of Beloit, Wis., and a host of dignitaries to discuss the plant at 11 a.m. at Southeastern Iowa Port Terminal, 2301 Twin Rivers Drive, Keokuk.

Hendricks Holdings owns the port terminal and the tower plant coming to Keokuk.

“I look at this as truly a beginning,” Gudgel said. “When you look at the wind energy industry, there are so many satellite businesses that produce the integral parts of the blade mechanism. You see the blades and the housings are quite large, as big as a small cabin on a passenger plane, and you look at those long structures, towers, holding it all up.”

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[DS1]

1. That guy talks like John Madden

still, it's about time someone recognized that there's also jobs in innovation, and while dumping shit like coal will hurt at first, the jobs will simply be switched to a newer industry.

There's no reason why W. Virginia can't start producing something clean, and keep people employed

[AlecBGreen]

2. yeah

"there's also jobs in innovation"

It depends though. It seems like every time there is an advancement in mining or assembly, the new technology makes people LOSE their jobs.

Its good to see wind (and solar, biomass, geothermal, etc) expansion creating all these new jobs. One more reason to promote them. Let those WV coal miners become switchgrass farmers, PV repairmen, or turbine mechanics. IMO people dont mind transitioning if they know the new job will pay well and be more secure then their old job.

[DS1]

3. some people need to lose their jobs, because their jobs are fucking up the planet

[AlecBGreen]

4. no argument here

I can think of a few

[Kolesar]

5. Jeremy Rifkin recommends creating pensions for the 50,000 coal miners

Pensions were established for longshoremen who were furloughed when automation replaced their jobs on the waterfront.