Monday, January 11, 2010
Crain’s Chicago Business examines the prospects for offshore wind power in Lake Michigan. ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner says that wind farms near Chicago would trigger public opposition. ”There’s a reason lakefront property is so valuable in Chicago,” said Learner.
Offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes are less likely to be built because the Midwest has excellent sites for wind power available on land, where wind power development is much cheaper than offshore. Read the article in Crain’s Chicago Business.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Developing clean energy is critical to solving global warming, strengthening our economy and increasing our energy independence. A clean energy future will require us to use energy more efficiently and generate more of our electricity from clean, renewable sources including wind and solar power.
Efficiency
Energy efficiency is the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to meet our growing energy needs. Taking advantage of energy efficiency will lower consumers’ energy bills, reduce pollution and put hundreds of thousands of people to work performing energy audits, retrofitting older buildings, manufacturing energy efficient building materials and more. ELPC is part of the national Campaign for an Energy Efficient America that is pushing for nationwide energy efficiency standard- you can learn more at www.energyefficiencyworks.org
Renewables
Generating electricity from renewable sources like wind, sunlight, plants, moving water and the earth’s heat will greatly reduce global warming pollution while increasing our energy independence creating new jobs and income, especially in rural America. Investing in clean energy will diversify our energy supply and create a sustainable way to move our country forward.
ELPC is working on state and local policies that encourage renewable energy development and is part of the coalition advocating for federal clean energy legislation. You can learn more at www.renewableenergyworks.org.
Working Together
In combination, energy efficiency, renewable energy and greenhouse gas cap-and-trade will greatly reduce global warming pollution, grow the clean energy economy and stabilize consumer energy prices. Click here to read an analysis of how the three components work together.
What can I Do?
Transitioning to a clean energy economy will take political courage. Contact your elected officials and ask them to support that national Energy Efficiency and Renewable Electricity standards.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
In an article in South Dakota’s Argus Leader, ELPC President Howard Learner said that funding and tax incentives from the economic stimulus will help the wind industry continue to grow and create clean energy jobs. Like almost every industry, growth in wind power has slowed during the current economic crisis.
“Wind makes sense in rural areas, where stimulus is needed the most – South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa,” said Learner. “This is about job creation – good, new clean jobs. And that’s why wind is going to continue to be robust. It just makes good sense, good policy sense.”
ELPC has worked for years to help South Dakota take advantage of its opportunities for wind energy. Our organization played a crucial role in the formation of the South Dakota Wind Energy Association.
Read the full article here.
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
The South Dakota Wind Energy Association (SDWEA) elected a Board of Directors, named an Executive Director and set goals for 2009 at its first official meeting on January 13. ELPC worked for months with a diverse group of stakeholders to help organize the SDWEA.
The group will work to support the development of wind energy as a sustainable economic and environmentally-friendly resource for South Dakota and its citizens. Board President Jeffrey L. Nelson commented on South Dakota’s wind energy opportunity, “South Dakota has the fourth best wind in the country and many people want to further maximize this potential.” Nelson said, “We look forward to SDWEA advancing the opportunities for South Dakotans as further wind energy is developed throughout our state.”
ELPC will continue to work with SDWEA to maximize the benefits of wind energy for the environment and the people of South Dakota.
Read SDWEA’s press release here
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Monday, October 6, 2008
Argus Leader reporter Thom Gabrukiewicz pointed to rising energy concerns around, “biofuels, wind, coal, solar technology and the prospect of the first new oil refinery to be built in the United States in more than 30 years” as attracting national and regional groups like ELPC to work in the state.
“South Dakota has a tremendous opportunity to create clean energy on its farms and ranches that is good for the environment,” said Howard Learner, president and executive director with the Environmental Law & Policy Center, which has an office in Sioux Falls. “We’re here to help make a difference in South Dakota.”
Learner said the attention his group is placing on South Dakota is not fleeting. “We’re not dropping in for a year, then dropping out,” he said. “We’re here for the long term.”
Read the full article.
