Today, members of the North Dakota State Senate defeated a proposed two-year moratorium on construction of wind energy development at the urging of the amendment's sponsor, Sen. Dwight Cook (R-Mandan).

The proposed moratorium generated push-back from a broad cross-section of organizations including LIUNA, which has consistently supported an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy and opposed arbitrary limits on energy production.

Pam Link, the union's North Dakota Director of Legislative Affairs and Business Development, observed that, "A moratorium on development of wind energy makes no more sense than a moratorium on pipelines, and it would eliminate work opportunities for hundreds of North Dakotans including many of our members.”

In a Feb. 20 Dickinson Press story on the controversy, LIUNA member Robert Noble explains that wind power not only provides family-supporting jobs for construction workers, but also provides him an opportunity to contribute to the development of renewable energy resources.

Read the full story here.