Spend any time outdoors in Iowa and one thing becomes immediately apparent – the wind is always blowing.

We Iowans are accustomed to the corn stalks rustling in the summer breeze. And we complain when the wind chill factor makes a cold January day feel even colder. But wind is a fact of life here.

That constant steady wind provides Iowans with a basically endless supply of low cost electricity.

Wind turbines can be seen throughout southern Webster County and much of the state.

Those turbines generate 63 percent of the state’s electricity, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. No other state gets so much of its electricity from wind power

That means the light that readers of The Messenger are using to enjoy today’s edition almost surely is powered by electricity from the rotating blades of towering turbines.

MidAmterican Energy, which owns the Lundgren Wind Farm in Webster County, has a total of 3,400 turbines across the state which generate 7,700 megawatts of electricity.

Not a single lump of coal or drop of oil is burned to make all that electricity.

And while it’s natural for anyone to assume their utility bills are too high, the reality is that all the wind-generated electricity is comparatively cheap. Various groups compare electricity bills across the country and those studies consistently show Iowa’s electric bills at about 24 percent lower than the national average.

So wind power is clean and comparatively inexpensive, which are two huge advantages. But there are even more pluses.

In Iowa, the wind power industry supports about 9,000 jobs, doing everything from making turbine blades to operating the devices.

The wind power industry is also a source of revenue for the state’s farmers. The turbines are erected on land that utility companies lease from the farmers. Lease payments appear to range between $3,000 to $15,000 per year for each turbine. And some lease contracts have clauses that increase the rent with inflation.

Statewide, wind turbine lease payments to farmers have been calculated at $68 million a year. MidAmerican Energy reports paying about $45 million a year for turbine property leases.

Additionally, the wind power industry creates tax revenue for local and state governments. Those tax payments total about $57 million a year.

Wind power is also safe. No credible scientific studies have found any negative health effects caused by wind turbines.

The turbines are not death traps for birds. Collisions with tall buildings and radio towers kill more birds than collisions with wind turbines.

In short, wind energy is clean, safe, limitless and provides measurable economic benefits.

Doing anything at the local, state or federal level to limit wind power is poor public policy. Wind energy should be encouraged, not discouraged, at all levels.