Texas Governor Makes Major Wind Energy Announcement at SMU School of Engineering

On October 2, 2006, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced at the SMU School of Engineering $10 billion dollars worth of new private development in wind energy for Texas. "This is a landmark day as the State of Texas partners with private industry to make a historic investment of more than $10 billion in new wind energy infrastructure that will diversify our energy production, clean up our air, and help Texas surpass our renewable energy goals, " Perry said.

Reports indicated that for every 1000 megawatts generated by new wind sources, Texas will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by six million tons over the next 20 years.

"We are very proud to have been a key partner in this historic announcement. Our engineering faculty and students are committed to leveraging the latest technologies to provide communities with clean, renewable forms of energy," said Geoffrey Orsak, Dean of Engineering.

The site of the announcement, the new J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building in the SMU School of Engineering, has been built to the US Green Building Council's LEED Gold standards and is completely powered by wind energy.