We routinely see the negative power of the wind. Towns are blown away. Trees are uprooted. Topsoil is relocated. Etc.

Earlier this week, it was reported that a new effort is being considered to take the wind’s positive power and amplify it as an alternate energy source. According to a collaborative report from the Department of Energy and private industry, 20 percent of the nation’s electricity could be produced by windmills over the next two decades.

Ironically, it’s the same technology that we had two decades prior. But now the need is more pronounced. Experts say that in this next time frame, windmills could produce as much electricity as existing nuclear reactors do today.

And so we get back to the reality that as a nation we react more than we proact. But later is better than never.

Wind is free. Of course our landscape and our mentalities must adapt to such changes. Another irony: People will go to Holland and view windmills as an art form — an element of antiquity. But a windmill designed for mass energy production does not carry the romance structure, it carries something even greater ... a renewable power source. Perhaps our perceptions need adjusting.

Wind power is not a savior It might very well be a viable component, however, of a multi-faceted energy initiative.

Solar power, bio fuels, hydrogen power and other ideas must be explored beyond the novelty complex. It must be part of a great strategy with a determination to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.

Our nation does not have to be completely energy independent. But we must resolve to better our position in the realm of alternte energy so that we cannot be held hostage. Or perhaps the better phrase would be not be “held over a barrel.”

It is easy to oversimplify some of these efforts because whatever is pursued, our economic structure must be considered. We must be able to separate “need” and “greed” so that our capitalism is balanced to the point that the distance between the “haves” and “have nots” doesn’t put us into a situation that breeds revolution. We could learn from the mistaks of others on those points.

Maybe this thing about wind power is indicative of our great minds coming together in this regard.