The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy and environmental policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some of the more insightful articles in this issue are:

Study: $40± Million in Property Value Loss due to Wind Project

Study: 80%± Reduction in Tourism due to Turbines

Study: Energy Policy and Electricity Prices

Study: Is Renewable Energy Sustainable?…

“Protest loudly, politely, and often, and sue at every turn. Expose greed and support sound science…. Finally, always speak from a position of integrity and truth and NEVER exaggerate the way the wind industry does. It is possible, though not expected, that eventually truth will win the day. Be proud because you have the truth on your side – whether you win or not.”

– Interview with Tom Stacy (below)

“Finally, the wind lobby is telling the press and environmental groups that freezing the mandate will cost tens of thousands of renewables manufacturing jobs in Ohio. But the truth is Ohio has manufacturing jobs because we have the infrastructure, the natural resources, the education opportunities and the skills to compete in manufacturing. More expensive electricity would hurt that competitive advantage and cost Ohio jobs on net.”…

Editor Note: This morning, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hear testimony about energy from a philosophical perspective. Alex Epstein is a panelist at the hearing, Examining the Role of Environmental Policies on Access to Energy and Economic Opportunity. Other speakers are Father Robert A. Sirico, President, Acton Institute; Major General (Ret.) Robert Scales, Senior Military Analyst; Michael Breen, President & CEO, Truman National Security Project; and Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

His opening comments as submitted follow (subtitles have been added).

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The energy industry is the industry that powers every other industry. To the extent energy is affordable, plentiful, and reliable, human beings thrive. To the extent energy is unaffordable, scarce, or unreliable, human beings suffer.

And yet in this election year, the candidates, especially the Republican candidates, have barely discussed energy.…

“Citing the iconic U.S. inventor and businessman Thomas Edison, who is credited for building the first modern power station on lower Manhattan’s Pearl Street in 1892, [Secretary of State John] Kerry said Edison would view today’s deployment of clean energy technology as evidence that ‘an energy revolution that he dreamt about is actually underway’.”

– Daniel Cusick, “Kerry Decries ‘Politics, Sheer Politics’ of Climate Denial,” ClimateWire, April 6, 2016.

John Kerry probably has a speechwriter. And that speechwriter is no doubt trying to come up with some new angle to make an energy/climate point for the boss.

But if Kerry thinks that Edison was dreaming about wind and solar to generate (intermittent) electricity, I would at least like to know about the source. The dreaming might have been speechwriter/Kerry for Thomas Edison, not Thomas Edison for speechwriter/Kerry.…