President George W. Bush has made very few public appearances since leaving Washington last year.
He hit the motivational speaker circuit last fall, and spoke at the Safari Club International Annual Hunters’ Convention in Reno, Nevada in January. Next month, he will appear at the 2010 national conference of the wind power industry in Dallas, Texas. The Texas native will apparently be advocating the virtues of wind power at the meeting, sponsored by the American Wind Energy Association.
The following is from AWEA’s blog:
“The former president will talk about his experience as Texas’s governor, and as President, in advancing the wind energy agenda. (Texas is the number one wind state in the United States and, though most people don’t realize it, it was President Bush who first raised the prospect of getting 20% of U.S. electricity from wind”.)
“Raised the prospect” is interestingly worded. Bush indeed signed into law a strong renewable energy standard in Texas 1999 as governor. Texas, since, has more installed wind capacity than any other state. As president he did say in 2007 that the country could draw 20% of its power from wind by 2030, but he did not actually take the steps necessary to make it happen.
Bush reportedly charges $150,000 for his appearances, though he does home-town events like this one at a discounted rate: just $100,000. The conference will also feature Jason Alexander, a.k.a George Costanza from Seinfeld.
