Supporting Wind and Oil

Rayola Dougher
Posted February 4, 2011

This afternoon the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire posted about our "i'm one" ads in the Capitol South Metro Station. The post also profiled American Wind Energy Association ads running in Metro. While we appreciate the coverage, we must take issue with the final paragraph: "The two trade groups say their back-to-back appeals were coincidental. But the two industries are in competition for federal dollars. In his most recent State of the Union address, which coincided with the API's campaign, President Barack Obama proposed a $4 billion cut to oil and gas subsidies to help pay for clean energy initiatives that could benefit the wind energy industry, among others."

We wish AWEA the best of luck in building their industry --our economic future will depend on energy from all sources-- but the WSJ is incorrect to say that we are in competition for federal dollars. We are not asking the government for money, but rather that we be allowed to continue creating jobs, to continue supplying America with the energy we need, continue to develop our substantial domestic energy reserves, and continue to be the leading innovator in the development of alternatives. We will use our own money to do it, and we will also continue to provide the U.S. Treasury with nearly $100 million dollars a day in taxes, royalties and bonus payments.