This Red Midwestern State Is a Global Paragon of Clean Power
The economics of renewable energy help explain why it’s thriving in so many places where it would seem unwelcome.
Iowa generated roughly 61% of its electricity from wind and solar last year.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
If you’re looking for a paragon of the renewable-energy transition, you won’t find it in most of Europe or anywhere in China or even in California. It’s a Midwestern US state known more for ethanol than for wind farms, which has voted for Donald “Green New Scam” Trump in three consecutive presidential elections.
That paragon is none other than Iowa, which last year generated roughly 61% of its electricity from wind and solar photovoltaic power (but mostly wind). A close runner-up is even deeper-red South Dakota, which went 63% for Trump in the latest election. Almost 56% of its electricity in 2023 was generated by wind turbines, which Trump has incorrectly claimed cause cancer.