It’s official: The next big thing is looking to be wind power, folks. Can we get a hoo raah? Amongst the grim economic news comes the silver lining that one million people will be employed worldwide by the wind-power industry by the end of the decade, despite the impact of the financial crisis.

“It has been another record year for the industry. People say these growth rates can’t go on forever, but they keep on going on,” said Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council.

Although wind and solar power companies have faced financial difficulties caused by the continuing economic crisis due to the lack of available financing for wind and solar projects, it is unclear how profoundly it would reduce or delay demand and profitability. However, grid connections remain key to the future of wind energy in all parts of the world and newly elected U.S. president Barack Obama is looking to the current financial crisis to invest in this area.

“Renewable energy isn’t something pie-in-the-sky,” Obama told workers at an Ohio plant that produces wind turbine parts. “It’s not part of a far-off future. It’s happening all across America right now. With all the bad news going on out there, with all the news of jobs lost and businesses shuttered, jobs were created right here.”