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November 17, 2021
By Gale Lush
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WILCOX, NE-October 19, 2021---“The American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) is pleased to announce that ACGF Director Dan McGuire just received a REpowering Schools Special Recognition Award at their Annual Awards Ceremony on October 15, 2021,” said Gale Lush, ACGF Chairman, a corn, soybean and wheat farmer from Wilcox, Nebraska.
“The Special Recognition Award acknowledges McGuire’s decades of work in articulating the role that renewable energy can play in support of farming communities and their students nation-wide.”
Dan McGuire and the ACGF have been national leaders on renewable energy for decades, beginning with ethanol, especially advocating for a strong federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) policy.
“We led the way bringing utility-scale wind energy specifically to Nebraska, and across the Midwest and around the nation as well with our Wealth From The Wind rural education and economic development outreach program in the 21st century. McGuire also led the Wind for Schools program as its facilitator in Nebraska, working with Professor Jerry Hudgins at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The focus now includes solar power which is gaining new supporters and organizations across the energy and educational sectors. Renewable energy is essential to future rural economic prosperity,” said Lush.
Mark Lounsbery, ACGF Vice President from Revillo, South Dakota said, “Dan McGuire’s receipt of this award is well-deserved. His leadership and vision on important issues from the ethanol RFS to utility-scale wind energy and solar development, and now the REpowering Schools program to help provide an educated STEM-related workforce for the future of our economy and energy is no surprise. He has spent his entire career helping rural America on farm policy and renewable energy.”
In accepting the award Dan McGuire praised leaders at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the members of the Nebraska Wind for Schools Consortium, including wind and solar developers and the Nebraska Public Power District. McGuire said, “Professor Jerry Hudgins and the University of Nebraska Wind Applications Center provide the highest level of electrical and computer engineering expertise, training and coursework to the K-12 partner schools. The same goes for the other partner universities and their Wind Application Centers. We need REpowering Schools now more than ever given the climate and environmental challenges facing our country. We need STEM-related career development to meet future needs. It is estimated that 350,000 new jobs will be created from wind energy alone if we get 20% of electricity from wind by 2030.”
Today, the WfS program is operating in 12 states and, through REpowering Schools, is broadening to include solar energy and expanding its successful program through efforts in additional states. Currently, universities across the country host classroom studies, conduct field assessments, support renewable energy focused teacher and student training, and support the consideration of small wind and solar installations at educational institutions. REpowering Schools works with educators and the renewable energy industry in coordination with national and state government projects to support programming and opportunities to engage and train a diverse and sustained renewable energy workforce.
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