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New National Coalition Formed to
Promote Clean, Renewable, Domestic Wind Energy Development
“Wind Energy Works!” Will
Draw on Diverse Membership to Engage in the National Wind Energy
Conversation, Combat Misinformation
July 6, 2005 – Washington, D.C. –
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today announced the
formation of a broad national coalition of wind energy advocates
that is intended to be the largest pro-wind energy development
organization of its kind in the United States. Wind Energy
Works! will actively and aggressively engage in the public
conversation over the merits of wind energy, educate the public
about the many benefits of wind energy development, and act as a
counterbalance to the misinformation being spread by wind energy
opponents in communities across the country.
“Wind energy works because it is
one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy
sources in the world, helps reduce our country’s dependence on
foreign sources of energy, creates jobs and supports local
economies,” said Randall Swisher, Executive Director of the
American Wind Energy Association. “But despite all of these
benefits, there is an ongoing effort by wind energy opponents to
mislead the public and hinder or block further wind energy
development across the country. This new coalition will make
the positive case for continued wind energy development and
engage the public with the facts.”
There is great support in this
country for wind energy development. A May 2005 Yale University
poll found that 87 percent of Americans support expanded wind
farms and 86 percent want increased funding for renewable energy
research. Despite such widespread support, opponents have
mounted a concerted effort to distort the truth about wind
energy’s benefits and spread misinformation to the public in an
attempt to influence their favorable perception of wind energy.
The Wind Energy Works! coalition was created to counter myths
with facts.
The initial organizations in the coalition include a diverse
array of national, regional and local environmental,
agricultural, economic development, faith-based and wind and
renewable energy advocacy groups. Members include: Earth Policy
Institute, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Izaak
Walton League of America, Union of Concerned Scientists, the
American Corn Growers Association, the American Corn Growers
Foundation, Prowers County Development, Inc., and The
Regeneration Project/Interfaith Power and Light. Wind and
renewable energy advocacy organization members include: AWEA,
Renewable Energy Long Island, Western Resource Advocates, the
Renewable Northwest Project, Wind Power New York, Citizens for
Pennsylvania's Future, the Center for Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Technologies (CEERT), The Wind Coalition, Green Energy
Ohio, Wind on the Wires, the Interwest Energy Alliance, Clean
Energy Partnership, Renew Wisconsin, West Wind Wires,
Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ME3), and the
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. This initial group will be
supplemented over time by an even broader set of national,
regional, state and local organizations.
Although the establishment of the
coalition was spurred by AWEA, the coalition’s vision is to
become a broad-based alliance of independent voices providing a
platform for organizations from the environmental, agricultural,
business, health, social justice, faith, and academic
communities to promote their combined expertise and perspective
on the need for continued wind energy development. This effort
will reach every corner of the country and every level of the
wind energy conversation – from local town hall meetings to
state media coverage to the floor of the U.S. Senate, the
coalition’s presence will be felt and its perspective will be
voiced.
“By combining the resources of
its members and creating a unified message and communication
infrastructure, the coalition will engage in every aspect of the
wind energy conversation across this country and let no myth or
falsehood about wind go unanswered without the facts about wind
energy’s tremendous benefits,” said Coalition Steering Committee
Member Susan Sloan of The Wind Coalition (Austin, Texas). “The
strength and effectiveness of this coalition will be greater
than the sum of its parts.”
Wind Energy Works! is intended to
be a simple, effective, memorable statement of the value and
benefit of wind energy development. Wind energy works! because
it's effective: it creates jobs, generates local tax
revenues and supports local economies. Wind energy works!
because it is a reality today: wind energy is a viable energy
source creating electric power for more then 1 million
Americans. Wind energy works! because it is a clean, renewable,
domestic source of energy that can be expanded across the
country: wind energy could provide at least six percent of the
nation's electricity by 2020.
"Wind energy is an invaluable
economic asset to the overall agricultural industry and
specifically to the farming sector by diversifying the income of
farmers, ranchers and other landowners as well as generating tax
revenue for local governments," said Coalition Steering
Committee Member Dan McGuire, American Corn Growers Foundation
CEO. "Rural communities across the country need to have their
voices heard on the need for development of this critical power
source and the Wind Energy Works! coalition will allow us to
join with wind energy advocates from all over the nation to do
just that."
"Wind energy is one of the cleanest energy sources available -
protecting air quality and reducing global warming pollution,
while also conserving our natural resources," said Coalition
Steering Committee Member Alan Nogee, clean energy program
director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The Wind Energy
Works! coalition will help ensure that the public is informed
that wind energy is available to provide these benefits today."
About Wind
Energy Works!
Wind Energy Works! is a
new national alliance that will support wind energy development
across the country. The coalition will engage the public debate
over wind energy development with facts about its many benefits
and counteract the growing spread of misinformation by wind
energy opponents. Although initiated by the wind energy
industry, its broad-based membership includes organizations and
individuals representing many walks of life.
About the American Wind Energy
Association
AWEA, formed
in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind
energy industry. The association’s membership includes turbine
manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians,
and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is
available on the AWEA web site: www.awea.org |