It was a bad year for US carmakers, corn ethanol and EPA rollbacks. But not for wind.

For the nation's most promising clean energy source, it was another record-breaking 12 months, says the American Wind Energy Association, in its take on the industry's 2008 accomplishments.

America surged past the 20,000-megawatt installed capacity milestone in the summer months. It struck the 21,000 megawatt-mark by September's end. And it closed the year with a sprint to the finish, beating out Germany to become the largest generator of wind energy in the world.

What did the boom bring?

This mighty nation is enslaved by the collective imperative to shop or perish and as a result is dragging the whole globe to perdition. That's why the news this past week about the economic troubles of the nation's retailers has been, well, sorry to say so, good news overall.

Story after story about how retailers are slashing prices and taking losses to move inventory after a dismal holiday shopping season. I couldn't help but be glad when I heard a report on National Public Radio on how empty the stores are now. I didn't imagine that everyone was home sulking, but suddenly free to do something more fulfilling.

The NY Times summed it up this way:

Retailers have no choice but to find creative ways to clear their store shelves, because they have to make room for spring merchandise.

After 9/11, President Bush famously told America: go shopping! In anticipation of a coming snowstorm the week before Christmas, Mayor Bloomberg promised efficient snow removal and told New Yorkers: go shopping! Soon after his inauguration, President Obama will likely sign an economic stimulus bill into law that will authorize the government to print close to $1 trillion of new currency. Why? So that America can once again go shopping! as before.

Good grief.

Our $13 trillion economy is based essentially on shopping -- for cars and houses, clothes and televisions, gadgets and gifts -- a treadmill of consumption with no "off" switch. The Chinese economy, a juggernaut of production, and the American economy, its all-consuming counterpart, together account for half the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the global financial crisis and the global climate crisis, they are working in lock step to bring spring merchandise to a store near you. The retailers are making room on their shelves for it, the marketers are preparing the enticing come-ons, and we are all expected to show up and buy things we really don't need so that the economy can recover and grow without limit.

It’s official: New coal lost its luster in 2008.

According to the Sierra Club, two dozen proposed new coal-fired power plants were defeated or abandoned this past year, "laying the groundwork to fundamentally change the way the U.S. rebuilds and repowers itself."

Global warming was a significant factor.

Investors yanked money out of the sector amid concerns that coming carbon regulation would add to already soaring costs of new coal facilities. States refused permits for failing to address CO2 pollution concerns.

The full highlights of the "year in coal" are here (pdf). They include:

Tests Show High Levels of Arsenic from Coal Ash Spill (Knoxville News Sentinel)

A coalition of environmental groups said yesterday that water quality tests near the spot where 1.1 billion gallons of coal fly ash spilled into Tennessee's Emory River have turned up levels of heavy metals up to 300 times higher than regulatory limits.

NASA Climate Expert Makes Personal Appeal to Obama (Guardian)

NASA climate scientist James Hansen has written a new year appeal to Barack and Michelle Obama, warning of the "profound disconnect" between public policy on climate change and the magnitude of the problem.

Czechs Take Presidency of Europe (Reuters)

The Czech Republic has assumed the rotating presidency of the EU. Member nations have expressed concerns over how well its president, Vaclav Klaus, could follow France’s tenure, in which Pres. Sarkozy tackled a wide array of issues, including climate change.

Coral Growth in Decline at Great Barrier Reef (MSNBC)

The rate at which corals absorb calcium from seawater to calcify their hard skeletons -- and thus grow -- has declined dramatically in the last 20 years. Signs point to climate change as the culprit, according to a study of samples from Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Maryland Utilities to Add Conservation Fees (Baltimore Sun)

Maryland consumers will begin paying small monthly fees on electric bills this year to subsidize an ambitious energy-efficiency initiative, under plans approved by regulators this week.