<NEWS RELEASE>

Minneapolis, MN – As leaders in Washington discuss a "green” stimulus package to get America back to work again, several Minnesota mayors have joined more than 150 mayors from across the country calling for an energy independence plan within the first 100 days of the Obama Administration.

Minnesota's mayors join mayors from Little Rock, Philadelphia, New York City, Las Vegas and Omaha, among others, who believe green jobs and clean, renewable energy are the path to energy independence and economic stability.

The following Minnesota mayors have recently signed the Pickens Pledge, calling for an energy independence plan within the first 100 days of office:

    •     John Brady, Mankato

    •     Robert Byrnes, Marshall

    •     Mary Hamann-Roland, Apple Valley

    •     Richard Lehman, Bemidji

    •     Mike Maguire, Eagan

    •     Don Ness, Duluth

    •     Alan Oberloh, Worthington

    •     Gary Peterson, Columbia Heights

    •     Bjorn Skogquist, Anoka

Among the country's leaders in wind energy production, Minnesota has more than 60 wind farms added in the past 20 years.

Experts agree that the upper-Midwest has some of the highest potential for wind generation. Local companies, such as Xcel, are embracing the emerging technologies to meet Minnesota's new renewable energy standard, which requires 30 percent of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2020, with 25 percent coming from wind energy.

With renewable energy development come new jobs. Governor Tim Pawlenty's "Green JOBZ” program offers another solution to the state's energy demands and unemployment, with an estimated 114,000 jobs in the green sector by 2030. In Duluth, more than 300,000 freight tons on wind turbines shipments have passed through its port last year, compared to 34,000 freight tons in 2005.

"For America to be competitive in a new global economy, we must invest in technologies that help reduce our dependence on foreign oil," says Don Ness, Mayor of Duluth, Minnesota. "This is an important moment in American history, we have the opportunity to develop a vibrant green economy that will strengthen the integrity of our nation's balance sheet and put Americans to work. We need Congress and the President to invest in needed infrastructure and provide incentives that will encourage domestic energy development."

The Pickens Pledge reads:

We will no longer stand by and watch as America's national security and economy become more dependent on the unstable foreign nations that we rely on for nearly 70% of the oil we use each day.

We spend nearly $700 billion every year buying foreign oil, which represents the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.

The new President and the 111th Congress need to enact an energy plan that reduces our foreign oil dependence by at least 30% within ten years.

This plan must include proven American technology and resources; the development of new energy sources; and the expansion and modernization of the national electrical grid to transport renewable energy to homes and businesses.

Delaying any further means tacit support for continuing America's addiction to foreign oil.

I join with T. Boone Pickens and his army of supporters in calling for an Energy Independence Plan to be enacted within the first 100 days of the new administration.

Unveiled on July 8, 2008 by T. Boone Pickens, the Pickens Plan is detailed solution for ending the United States' growing dependence on foreign oil, which costs the country as much as $700 billion per year. The plan calls for investing in power generation from domestic renewable resources such as wind and using our abundant supplies of natural gas as a transportation fuel, replacing more than one-third of our imported and saving more than $230 billion a year.

Since July, more than 1,350,000 people have joined the Pickens Army. For more information on the Pickens Plan  visit the Web site, http://www.pickensplan.com .