Clark, the keynote speaker at the American Wind Energy Association's 2008 Fall Symposium at Marriott Desert Springs Resort, told the audience the nation's economic woes, the country's growing sentiment toward ending dependence on foreign oil and the pro-renewable energy government is the perfect opportunity to grow the industry.

“We are, in this business, in an ideal position,” Clark said. “We have the ability to expand and we will receive the backing to do so. You can't find a better time,” to be in wind energy, he said.

Clark, a four-star general and former presidential candidate, now is president of Wesley K. Clark & Associates LLC, a strategic consulting firm, and chairman of the board of Emergya Wind Technologies, a North American wind turbine manufacturing company, both in Little Rock, Ark.

He said the election of Barack Obama as president, the gains in Democratic House and Senate seats and the unseating of Rep. John Dingell as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee by Rep. Henry Waxman create a favorable climate.

The renewable energy production tax credit, a credit of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour, is the primary federal incentive for wind energy and has been essential to the industry's growth, according to the association's report, “Wind Energy for a New Era: An Agenda for the New President and Congress.”

Clark noted President-elect Obama's support of a minimum five-year production tax credit extension.

Desert Sun