May 11, 2021 – LANSING, Mich. – Mark Pischea, president and CEO of the Conservative Energy Network (CEN), a coalition of 21 state-based conservative clean energy organizations,  today made the following statement in response to the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack.

“Unfortunately, cyberattacks are a new form of warfare that are not going away. America’s energy independence frees us from reliance on foreign energy sources, but we are still vulnerable to cyberattacks on our nation’s electric grid. America’s aging energy infrastructure is an exposed target to foreign adversaries – like Russian crime syndicates. Smart, targeted investments in our energy infrastructure and security, coupled with a diversified energy portfolio, will protect our electric grid from all enemies foreign and domestic.”

Recent polling by CEN has found that 86% of voters support increasing development of the country’s clean energy infrastructure. 83% of voters support accelerating the growth of clean energy to decentralize our nation’s electricity sources, protecting them from prolonged outages due to security threats.