The gas price blame game was in full swing this week.

President Bush recycled the same old nonsense about drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. You know, the place that supposedly holds about 10 billion barrels.

According to the Energy Department, opening up the refuge to oil development would only slightly reduce our dependence on imports, and lower prices by less than $0.50 a barrel.

Heck, we'll get a bigger upward move than that if someone sneezes too loud near a refinery.

Incidentally, even if they did open up the refuge to oil development, the oil wouldn't even start flowing for at least 9 years. That'll put us around 2017!

Then Hilary Clinton and John McCain proposed a gas tax holiday that, according to economists would just push the price of gas even higher.

Since refineries cannot increase their supply of gasoline in the space of a few summer months, any lower prices would just boost demand - rewarding Big Oil, instead of the consumer.

Not surprisingly, we haven't heard a peep out of the oil companies on this one. But mention a repeal of all that free money we keep giving them, and they'll rally the million-dollar lobbying troops in a New York minute.

Fortunately, on a local level, some real progress is actually being made with renewable energy standards.

Thank Ohio's Renewable Energy Standards for the Next Round of Investor Profits

Last week, after a unanimous vote, the Ohio State Senate sent new legislation to the desk of Governor Ted Strickland. This legislation establishes a 12.5% renewable electricity standard (RES) by 2025.

And the Governor is expected to sign it.

Now what does this mean for investors?

Well, when it comes to renewables, this is a wind-heavy state.

And according to the American Wind Energy Association, if wind energy constitutes 75% to 95% of the standard, the bill would establish a market for as much as 7,000 megawatts.

This is huge.

And for companies like Gamesa (MCE:GAM.MC), Iberdrola (MCE:IBE.MC), and GE (NYSE:GE), this could provide an absolute avalanche of hefty turbine contracts.

We also expect to see a number of smaller wind developers stepping up to take advantage of this opportunity. Much like we've seen in the past with wind developers in California.

Renewable Energy Standards and Wind Development 

In fact, Green Chip Stocks members are already profiting from one small wind developer with revenue-generating properties in Palm Springs and Tehachapi, California. These are the two hottest wind-generating spots, with transmission, in the country.

But beyond the money we've already been making here (and will continue to make in the near future), there's still something much bigger at play.

· Ohio is a huge industrial state that uses a lot of power. This enables the state to become a very important market for renewables.

· This legislation could help jumpstart the state's manufacturing sector, which is highly-skilled, and looking for work.

· With Ohio on board, there would now be 26 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have mandatory renewable energy standards. That's more than half the country!

If the federal government can't get its act together and do this, the individual states will.

Of course, once the new residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue move in, that could change as well.

But in the meantime, we'll continue to profit—with or without the government's support. Just like we've been doing since we started. And just like we'll do once Ohio's new legislation becomes law.

To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Jeff

www.energyandcapital.com

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Jeff,
Your comment in the article "Renewable Energy Standards" dated 5/2/08 mentions that the effort to drill in ANWAR would be futile because it would take 10 year to bring the oil to market. Well, remember during the Clinton administration the prospect of drilling in ANWAR came up for a vote and Clinton railed against it saying that it would take 10 years to bring the oil to market. Well it's 10 years later Jeff and well could really use every domestic source of crude oil possible.
Cheers!
John

Response to Article by Jeff Siegal in Energy and Capital dated 5/2/08. Mr. Siegal, I am astonished at your ignorance of the energy crisis the USA faces given your rant in Energy and Capital and that you would be given this rather auspicious format. You have been absorbing the environmental socialistic propaganda for the last 20 years that Americans have had to endure and like so many Americans have come to believe it to our great misfortune. The price Americans are now paying for their ignorance based upon this propaganda is $3.50 per gallon at the pump. The real energy that America needs and must have is oil and gas, coal and Nuclear power. Renewables are less than 15% of the solution whether we like it or not. Our energy solution must be to agressively pursue all three of the above to save us from chaos. All of the public lands and offshore areas should be immediately opened up for leasing and drilling. In Alaska not just the Anwar but the whole state. New coal and nuclear generating plants should be built on a expidated and crash basis similiar to the war effort during World War II. The great futility of current environmental thinking is typified by the US ethanol hysteria which is one of the most stupid and highly tax subsidized of approaches. Basically corn is for food and oil, gas and coal is for energy as any fourth grader should know. The volume of corn required to replace oil and coal reserves is so disproportionate that it begs credulity, yet environmental sociology has led us to the pathetic point today where we disregard our real energy sources in search of the holy grail of renewables. Research and Development over the next 25 years will have to find a replacement for crude oil, but for the next 15 to 20 years we are absolutely stuck with oil as our primary source of portable power for cars and trucks. If Americans don't like $3.50 to $6.00 per gallon of gasoline we better get with the program of real energy development (read oil, coal and nuclear), educate ourselves and instruct our congressmen and senators that their re-election is not what they are in Washington for but to pass real energy bills that will open the country to agressive and real energy developlment. Grover Ellisor