I just returned from a 12-day visit to Spain. Almost everywhere I went, by bus, train and car, ridgelines and hilltops were crowned by wind turbines. Passing by one wind farm, outside Avila, I counted 60 large wind turbines at just that one location.

I also passed several large arrays of solar panels, not mounted by sixes or eights on rooftops but spread out by the dozens across fields.

It made me wonder how Spain, a second-tier European country which has suffered economically more than most from the credit and mortgage crises and has unemployment now approaching 20 percent, has so outpaced the United States in the exploitation of alternative energy sources. Even New Hampshire's sole wind farm, in Lempster, was built and is operated by Iberdrola, a Spanish company.

On a related note, I have solar panels on my roof. They were made in Germany.

The United States could and should be a leader in wind and solar technology, if we're serious about reducing our dependence on foreign suppliers of petroleum. If the Spanish can do it, we certainly can.

JACK HARROD

New London