New numbers show individuals support bill 2-to-1 and businesses 3-to-1 at legislative hearings
MADISON — Despite big oil and coal spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to confuse and turn the public against the Clean Energy Jobs Act, Wisconsin residents and businesses demonstrated overwhelming support for the bill in recent legislative hearings, with supporters outnumbering opponents by more than a 2-to-1 ratio, according to data recently obtained from the Wisconsin State Legislature.
“Attendance at the hearings shows that Wisconsinites support the Clean Energy Jobs Act, despite the attempts of big oil and coal lobbyists to sour public perception with misinformation and deceptive advertising,” said Keith Reopelle, Senior Policy Director at Clean Wisconsin. “Energy independence may be bad for the big oil and coal companies, but it’s good for the hard-working people of Wisconsin. Supporters of this bill realize that greater energy independence means higher profits for Wisconsin businesses, more jobs, and a cleaner, healthier environment.”
In an attempt to weaken the Clean Energy Jobs Act, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) and big oil and coal companies have flooded the capital with lobbyists and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisements and studies that use biased, outdated and discredited information to attack the bill.
Despite this misinformation campaign, individuals supported the bill 2-to-1 at recent legislative hearings, with actual businesses supporting the bill by a 3-to-1 margin.
“Under the Clean Energy Jobs Act, Wisconsin businesses can increase profits and create jobs meeting the demand for clean, homegrown energy solutions,” said Wes Slaymaker, founder and owner of Wind Energy Systems Engineering, LLC. “We don’t have any fossil fuels, but we do have renewable sources, and the more electricity generation that comes from native Wisconsin sources, the more income stays in the state.”
An analysis performed by the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence estimates that the Clean Energy Jobs Act would create over 15,000 jobs in the state. Other state models demonstrate that the bill will decrease electricity bills for residential, commercial and industrial energy users.
“Big oil and coal corporations are trying to kill the Clean Energy Jobs Act because they want to keep their $16 billion river of foreign fossil fuels flowing into our state,” said Reopelle. “Wisconsin’s residents and businesses are lining up in support of the bill because they realize that breaking our addiction to dirty fossil fuel puts money into the pockets of hard-working Wisconsinites, instead of the bank accounts of big oil and coal companies.”
