We're digging through the Department of Energy’s video archives and pulling out some of our favorites to share on the Energy Blog. The below clip, from 1980, outlines the beginnings of the Department's focus on wind as a critical clean energy source.

Of course, we've made a lot of advances in wind energy in the last 30 years. By mid-2010, wind power plants in the United States provided enough wind electricity to power nearly 10 million households, creating good jobs and avoiding nearly 62 million tons of carbon emissions - the equivalent of taking 10.5 million cars off the road.

And the rapid growth of America's wind industry underscores the potential for wind to supply 20 percent of the country's total energy, as detailed in this report.