Fossil Fuel Industry Attacks Budweiser's Pro-Wind Super Bowl Ad

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By Dave Anderson, crossposted from Energy and Policyย Institute

The pro-wind power Budweiser ad that Anheuser-Busch will air during the Super Bowl on Sunday is being attacked by the fossil fuelย industry.ย 

The Kentucky Coal Association is among the groupsย attacking the Budweiser ad, which has already racked up nearlyย 14 million views on YouTube. Their attack wasย echoed by the website ClimateDepot.com, a project of aย coal-backed group called the Committee for Constructive Tomorrow.ย 

โ€œWind never felt better,โ€ the Budweiser ad says. โ€œNow brewed with wind power for a betterย tomorrow.โ€ย 

Watch the Budweiserย ad:ย 

The first volley came from theย American Energy Allianceย just one day afterย Anheuser-Busch announced the ad. It described Budweiserโ€™s pro-wind power statement as aย โ€œjoke.โ€ย 

The American Energy Alliance is the โ€œadvocacy armโ€ of the Institute for Energy Research. Together these affiliated political groups haveย received millions of dollars from the Koch brothers, as well asย money from the coal industry.ย 

The attack was soon joined by Kevon Martis, an anti-wind activist withย ties to the Institute for Energy Researchย and other groups funded by pollutingย industries.ย 

Martisย posted a video on Facebookย in which he protested the Budweiser ad by dumping a can of the companyโ€™s beer on the ground. Martis said in the video that he is the director of the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition, a Michigan-based anti-windย group.ย 

Martis did not disclose in the video that he is alsoย a senior policy fellowย for the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, a climate denial group that hasย also received funding from the Kochs and coal industry. Martis was also among the anti-wind activists whoย participatedย inย a 2012 meetingย in Washington, D.C., with representatives from powerful special interest groups funded by the fossil fuelย industry.

Martisโ€™s video claimed that he has witnessed the โ€œsocial destructionโ€ caused by wind farms across theย Midwest.ย 

A newย Michigan State University pollย found broad support among Michiganders for transitioning away from coal and using more wind and solarย power.ย 

Anti-wind operatives like Martis travel the country giving presentations that often claim that noise from wind turbines negatively impact human health โ€“ aย claim made frequently on MasterResource.org, a blog run by the Institute for Energyย Research.ย 

โ€œThere is no authoritative evidence that sound from wind turbines represents a risk to human health among neighboring residents,โ€ a ย new studyย out of Iowa, aย top state for wind power, confirmed thisย week.ย 

Greenwich Neighbors United, an Ohio-based anti-wind group, was among those thatย shared Martisโ€™s videoย andย the American Energy Allianceโ€™s hit pieceย on Budweiserโ€™s ad. Itโ€™s an example of how messages that originate with individuals and special interest groups that have ties to the fossil fuel industry are often echoed by local anti-windย groups.

Image credit: Screenshot from the pro-wind Budweiserย ad

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