New website debunks renewable energy myths

The American Council on Renewable Energy has launched a new website designed to address the imbalance in America’s debate over clean and renewable energy.

The Energy Fact Check website offers visitors multiple browsing options to learn the truth about renewable energy cost and availability, jobs generation, policies and technology, public opinion and bipartisan support, the strength of the industry and how it affects national security.

Numerous common myths in each category are addressed with real answers, which are documented. For example, under the category Cost and Availability, the first claim listed is, “clean and renewable energy is too expensive,” and it is followed by a factual answer. “The cost of clean and renewable energy is much lower than some might think and is already cost competitive with conventional energy resources in many markets,” it said. “In the last two years, prices for wind, solar, electric vehicles and other technologies have fallen rapidly and will continue to do so, and biofuels have helped lower gas prices.”

Following the initial answer, it lists six supporting facts, documented by sources that include universities, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, technical journals and more.  Facts address the industry as a whole and as individual sectors, including biomass, biofuels, wind, solar, and geothermal.

ACORE President and CEO Dennis McGinn unveiled the website at the organization’s June 20 Renewable Energy Finance Forum-Wall Street in New York City.  He noted that ACORE chose to launch energyfactcheck.org and @EnergyFactCheck, a corresponding Twitter feed, before the more than 600 investors, financiers and industry executives attending the event for a specific reason. “Right now in Washington, politicians are using our industry to score political points,” he stated. “Some want the American people to ignore the billions of dollars in investments and the millions of jobs we have created. Meanwhile, America’s investors and financiers know the real story. They know that clean, renewable energy is a smart investment. They know that renewable energy is an industry and it should be treated and discussed as an industry, not as a political football.”

McGinn also said that opponents of renewables are pushing the occasional bad news as if it’s the only news. “They are dominating the conversation through misrepresentation, exaggeration, distraction and millions of dollars in lobbying and advertising,” he continued.

The website, www.energyfactcheck.org, also includes an energy library that allows users to search specific topics or studies.