According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), 2009 would have been an economically disastrous year without federal stimulus funding. The AWEA had expected wind-power development to drop 50% in 2009, but about $2.2 billion in federal stimulus money for dozens of projects kept employment at 2008 levels. In 2009 the US added 9,900 MW of wind power, the highest annual increase on record. 2009 increased US wind capacity by 39%. Total wind power generating capacity in the US is now over 35,000 MW. Wind energy in the US is estimated to reduce emissions by 62 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Unlike the EU there is no national objective for renewable energy in the US, though 35 states such as California have set their own objectives. The EU has set an objective that 20 percent of energy should be produced from renewable fuels by 2020.
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