ProCon.org and Over 175 Experts Compare Alternative Energies to Fossil Fuels in Major New Nonpartisan Website

March 2, 2009

ProCon.org, a nonpartisan 501c3 nonprofit research organization, created the new website alternativeenergyprocon.org to explore the core question, "Can alternative energy effectively replace fossil fuels?"

President Obama's budget has invested billions of dollars in alternative energy development, and ProCon.org investigates this topic and related issues including:

* whether alternative energy will revitalize the economy, increase energy independence, or should be subsidized, and

* pros and cons of peak oil theory, ethanol, biofuels, wind energy, solar energy, hydrogen vs. electricity, nuclear power, causes of global climate change, and more

Pro and con statements on over 30 energy-related questions were researched and solicited from more than 175 experts including: Samuel Bodman, former US Secretary of Energy; Helen Caldicott, President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute; Al Gore, former Vice-President of the United States; representatives of Greenpeace, Heartland Institute, Institute for Energy Research, Cato Institute, World Wildlife Fund, the US Conference of Mayors, and dozens more.

The research has been made publicly available at no charge and with no advertising.

Some interesting facts presented on the new website include:

* The US has 1.6% of the world's oil supply, and it uses 24% of the world's oil production.

* The US used fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) for 85% of its energy needs from 2003-2007. Of the remainder, 7% came from alternative energies (wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass), and 8% came from nuclear power.

* Illinois produces the most nuclear energy of any state with 982.4 trillion Btu's (about 25% of its total energy). 19 states and the District of Columbia do not produce any nuclear power.

* The resource-rich states of West Virginia, Wyoming, and North Dakota export a greater percentage of their energy than any other state with 69%, 65%, and 53%, respectively, of their energy going outside their borders.

SOURCE ProCon.org