On the road for affordable energy

It’s summer – a time of festivals, fairs, outdoor concerts and baseball. And in the summer of 2009, it’s also a time to focus on affordable energy.

As Americans gathered at public events throughout August, ACCCE sent outreach teams to eight states to talk to people with genuine concerns about energy prices. Our teams attended county and state fairs, participated in parades and met concerned business owners on Main Street.

Each team gave out materials with ACCCE’s message about ensuring that coal stays a part of the energy mix to keep electricity affordable. We gave out flyers, hats, t-shirts, pens, cards, stickers and bumper stickers. In three short weeks, we personally distributed our message nearly 95,000 times. During that time, we drove 41,000 miles, visited 264 cities, and attended 73 fairs, including four state fairs.

We collected the stories of families and small business owners like Denise, owner of the Tangle Salon in Terre Haute, Ind., who said, “We have to dry hair and nails, heat water, run the air conditioner or run the heater. Energy must be affordable or I would be in trouble.”

We visited and spoke at eight Kiwanis club meetings, as you can see in this video.

Reaching out to college students was an important part of our outreach. We visited 43 campuses and heard many stories like this one.

Sporting events were great places to meet folks and talk about keeping coal in America’s energy mix. We attended 44 sporting events, including major and minor league baseball games, preseason football games, NASCAR races, college football practices and even a surfing competition. Check out the reception we got. 

Finally, we have no doubt that the people of America understand the need and role for coal in America’s energy future – listen to the Americans we met in this video.