Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED)

Background

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) describes itself as “an informal, non-partisan, non-profit coalition of North American individuals, organizations, communities, and businesses who are primarily concerned about the future of the electrical energy sector.”¹

AWED‘s website is the successor site to WindPowerFacts.info and the group and site is run by anti-wind power activist John Droz, Jr.² ³

According to the AWED website, its purpose is to “sort through many thousands of articles, studies and reports on energy matters, select a representative cross-section of informative material, and then organize it in an understandable manner.” It claims that its primary objective is to “put some balance into what citizens hear about energy and environmental matters from the mainstream media, and most of our academic systems.”⁴

AWED‘s “New Members” page gives readers a guide on how to fight wind energy with public relations tactics:⁵

“Ultimately, victory or defeat in fighting scourges like wind energy, comes down to how well we understand and utilize Public Relations (PR). […] PR may be perceived as ‘shady’ or worse, but actually it is no more than communication. To have a real chance to win a local challenge, community advocates MUST go about this in the right way!”

The page sets out the “opponent” as any advocate of wind energy, and links to articles such as “the most effective way to frame your message” or “PR suggestions to win the battle and the war.”⁶

Stance on Climate Change

At AWED, Droz links to his position statement on climate change (emphasis added):⁷

“As a scientist I have been asked to elaborate a bit on my position regarding the Global Warming proposition — and how it relates to wind energy. These are very legitimate (and important) questions.

The main hypothesis put forward is technically called Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW), where the fancy term “anthropogenic” means “man-made.”

Although I am not a climatologist, as a scientist I know how to do thorough and objective research. (BTW, skepticism is a key ingredient of true scientists.) In my capacity as a scientist, I have read literally hundreds of reports and studies on this climate issue, from numerous experts. After digesting these studies and reports, it is very clear to me that AGW is still a scientifically unresolved matter. This is what is called a hypothesis.”

Later in his document, Droz claims to debunk “myths” related to climate change. He links to the blog WUWT by Anthony Watts, the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), Marc Morano‘s Climate Depot, Judith Curry’s Climate Etc., the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change’s CO2 Science, Friends of Science, and the debunked Oregon Petition among other sources.

On Wind

“Our basic position is that industrial wind energy fails to deliver the goods. By this we mean that wind energy:⁸

“a) is not a technically sound solution to provide electricity, or to meaningfully reduce global warming, and
b) is not an economically viable source of energy on its own, and
c) is not environmentally responsible.”

WHOIS Information

Via CentralOps.net:

Funding

AWED does not disclose funding information on its website.

Key People

John Droz, Jr.⁹

In a “Special Thanks” section, Droz gives thanks “to those who contributed constructive ideas for this website,” adding a note: “the fact that these good people made helpful contributions should not be construed as their unqualified endorsement of everything that appears on the website”:¹⁰

Rob Aliasso
Mary Kay Barton
Charles Battig
Tauna Christensen
Walt Cunningham
Dan Ervin
Steve Goreham
Laura Jackson
Erica Demick
Jonathan Lessor
Carl Liggio
Martin Mangino
Colette McLean
Kent Misegades
William Palmer
Carl Phillips
Alec Salt
John Shanahan
George Taylor
Jim Weigand

Actions

Newsletter

AWED‘s primary activity appears to be a newsletter published every three weeks at MasterResource, a “free-market energy blog.”¹¹

Droz wrote at Master Resource: “A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.”¹²

The newsletter appears to primarily aggregate content from climate change denial groups, blogs, and conservative news sources to attack wind power.¹³

Past AWED newsletters below:

March 23, 2020

As reported at DeSmog,¹⁴ Life:Powered sent a letter to Congress critical of the COVID-19 stimulus package for including “tax incentives and spending for unreliable ‘green’ energy
programs.”¹⁵

The letter, to which AWED is a signatory, concludes: ¹⁶

“This is no time for political games. Climate change is not an immediate threat to humanity. Climate-related deaths have declined 98.9% in the last century, and humanity is growing more and more resilient thanks to the availability of affordable, reliable energy. On behalf of all Americans, we urge you to oppose any stimulus proposals that carve out special treatment for or bail out any energy companies and focus instead on stopping COVID-19.”¹⁷

The full list of signatories is below:¹⁸

Name	Title	Organization
Jason Isaac	Senior Manager & Distinguished Fellow	Life:Powered/Texas Public Policy Foundation
Myron Ebell	Director, Center for Energy and Environment	Competitive Enterprise Institute
Bette Grande	CEO	Roughrider Policy Center
Ellen Weaver	President & CEO	Palmetto Promise Institute
Isaac Orr	Policy Fellow	Center of the American Experiment
Bethany Marcum	Executive Director	Alaska Policy Forum
David T. Stevenson	Director, Center for Energy and Environment	Caesar Rodney Institute
Donald van der Vaart	Senior Fellow	John Locke Foundation
Jason Hayes	Director of Environmental Policy	Mackinac Center for Public Policy
John Droz, Jr.	Founder	Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions
George K. Rasley, Jr.	Managing Editor	ConservativeHQ.com
Becky Norton Dunlop	Former Secretary of Natural Resources	Commonwealth of Virginia
James L. Martin	Founder/Chairman	60 Plus Association
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis	President	60 Plus Association
Ken Blackwell	Senior Fellow	Family Research Council
Eunie Smith	President	Eagle Forum
Jenny Beth Martin	Honorary Chairman	Tea Party Patriots Action
Jon Caldara	President	Independence Institute
L. Brent Bozell, III	Founder and President	Media Research Center
Jason Pye	Vice President of Legislative Affairs	FreedomWorks
Jameson Taylor	Vice President for Policy	Mississippi Center for Public Policy
Carol Platt Liebau	President	Yankee Institute
Mike Stenhouse	CEO	Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity
Daniel Erspamer	CEO	Pelican Institute for Public Policy
Christian N. Braunlich	President	Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy
Todd Myers	Environmental Director	Washington Policy Center

Ptcfacts.info (“Wind Production Tax Credit Facts”) — Also registered by John Droz.¹⁹

Contact & Address

AWED does not list a physical address on its website. John Droz lists his own mailing address on his “Casual CV” on the AWED website:²⁰

John Droz lists his mailing address on his “casual CV”:

1722 River Drive Morehead City,
NC 28557
[email protected]

AWED – Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions on Facebook.

Other Resources

Resources

1
Homepage, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 15, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/gEROG
2
“Potpourri,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/waYxl
3
“More About AWED,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/VIjrH
4
“More About AWED,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/VIjrH
5
“New Members,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CtqT8
6
“New Members,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CtqT8
7
“Global Warming: The Scientific View” (PDF). Document created by John Droz June 17, 2014. Retrieved from Black River Valley Macintosh User Group and converted to PDF.
8
“New Members,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/CtqT8
9
“Potpourri,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/waYxl
10
“Potpourri,” Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. Archived December 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/waYxl
11
John Droz, Jr. “AWED Newsletters Archive,” MasterResource, April 2, 2018. Archived April 17, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/NPQtG
12
John Droz, Jr. “AWED Newsletters Archive,” MasterResource, April 2, 2018. Archived April 17, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/NPQtG
13
John Droz, Jr. “AWED Newsletters Archive,” MasterResource, April 2, 2018. Archived April 17, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/NPQtG
14
Dana Drugmand. “Under Cover of Pandemic, Fossil Fuel Interests Unleash Lobbying Frenzy,” DeSmog, April 2, 2020.
15
Coronavirus Stimulus Letter, Life:Powered, March 23, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
16
Coronavirus Stimulus Letter, Life:Powered, March 23, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
17
Coronavirus Stimulus Letter, Life:Powered, March 23, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
18
Coronavirus Stimulus Letter, Life:Powered, March 23, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
19
Domain Dossier for ptcfacts.info. Accessed December 14, 2017.
20
“John Droz, jr.: Casual CV” (PDF), AWED.

DeSmog

DeSmog