“You look at a wind turbine. It’s got a whole bunch of parts. Somebody makes the blades, somebody makes the tower, somebody makes the gear boxes, the electronic controls,” Sterzinger said. “Those parts can come from China, India — or from Buffalo.”

“The wind energy industry currently employs about 45,000 people in the U.S. and had $9 billion worth of investment last year, a 45 percent increase from 2006″, Swisher said. “Given that growth, we’re already seeing constraints in terms of workers,” he said.