Green News: Valero installs 33 windmills to help power Texas refinery

Some surprising news out of the Wall Street Journal today. Apparently Valero, one of the world’s largest Oil Companies, has installed 33 windmills to help power one of their refineries in Sunray Texas. This would seem to come as some surprise, as a company whose goal is to refine and supply crude oil is now using renewable green (and essentially free) energy to power their refining operation.

I suppose it will be a lot harder to label this “Greenwashing.” While it may seem a little unusual, at least they are reducing their dependence on the fossil fuels they help create.

The marriage is one of convenience, Valero executives say. “We didn’t build the wind farm so we could get into the wind-energy business…”

It will be very interesting to see if the same oil companies who have lobbied for decades against renewable energy in the United States will still be pushing for oil even while harnessing the amazing power of wind and solar energy. At the end of the day, it is all business and whatever reduces costs will win out.

Even if the savings aren’t being passed on to consumers, at least Valero is reducing their OWN carbon footprint, even if their business is built around the opposite.

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