The American Wind Energy Association (‘AWEA’) claims big wind had a spectacular 2015, but we looked past the slick advertising and found the same AWEA rhetoric with extra pixie dust applied.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (“AWEA”) big wind had a spectacular 2015.

Jobs were up 20%, emissions down, more wind megawatts were installed than any other fuel source, and happy landowners pocketed a cool $222 million for their trouble. The media dutifully sang America’s good fortune. Imagine: a last Congressional vote in December mandating $15.8 billion in wind PTC payouts and everything is now right as rain. That is, until you look past the slick advertising and realize the boasted gains are nothing more than AWEA rhetoric with extra pixie dust applied.

The “Jobs Game”

The industry touted 15,000 jobs added in 2015, bringing the total to 88,000, including 1,800 new manufacturing positions.[1]…

“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.”…

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:

Wind and Solar have Destroyed the Energy Market

Batteries Will NOT Save Wind Energy

Health Officer Gets Migraines When Visiting Wind Project

Will Turbines Ever Be Bird Safe? (Audubon)

Wind Energy is a Public Health Problem

Wind Projects Tear Communities Apart

Time to Regroup and Defend Against Big Wind

Why Renewable Energy is a Worse Option than Nuclear

Is Global Warming Quickening?…

“Let’s switch out for a better [climate] policy…. Then conservative activists who continue to be in the denialist camp on climate change will find themselves completely isolated.”

– Jerry Taylor, quoted in “Libertarian Group Takes on Conservatives on Carbon Tax.” Energy & Environmental News (sub. req.), March 3, 2016.

“Alarmists … clearly have decided that the best way to win the global warming debate is by shouting down the opposition and demonizing them in the eyes of the public. But that is not dispassionate scientific debate; it is more like a ‘struggle meeting’ during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.”

– Jerry Taylor, The Heated Rhetoric of Global Warming, Cato Institute Commentary, September 15, 1997.

Climate ‘denier’ or ‘denialist’ is a term of political hate speech. Recently, it came from a source that for most of the last quarter century was labeled a ‘denier’ by the pugnacious Left. …