Fat Tire Asks Americans to Vote for Beer in the Midterm Elections

America's first certified carbon neutral beer to mobilize a national community around a common love of beer by driving collective climate action in the midterm elections & beyond 

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- If the climate crisis continues unabated, beer drinkers everywhere – across the political, cultural, and geographic spectrum – will eventually pay more for beer that tastes worse. To keep momentum for continued climate action growing strong, Fat Tire – America's first certified carbon neutral beer – is calling on the approximately 60 million Americans that drink beer to join the movement to protect the only planet with beer. The campaign represents the start of a long-term Fat Tire effort to encourage civic participation among beer drinkers by increasing awareness of the impact of climate change on beer and asking them to sign the Beer Drinker's Climate Declaration at DrinkSustainably.com. 

People who sign the Beer Drinker's Climate Declaration can then contact their elected officials directly through Fat Tire's digital action center to protect beer by supporting strong climate policy at the federal, state, and local levels. With sustained investment to organize and mobilize beer lovers in the coming years, Fat Tire believes the "beer vote" could eventually make a real impact in future elections – starting with the midterms on Nov. 8.

"In backyards, ballparks, and bars across America, people enjoy spending time together with a cold beer in hand," said New Belgium CEO Steve Fechheimer. "But the role beer plays as a spark for stronger human connection and a central part of so many traditions could disappear entirely if we don't successfully confront the climate crisis, which is destroying the crops and water required for brewing. Beer drinkers have an opportunity to become a powerful force for protecting our planet if we can raise our voices together."

According to a recent Gallup poll, some 63% of American adults drink alcohol – and the favored beverage among them is beer. You can't make beer without water and crops, and both are being hammered by a changing climate. While historic forest fires, extreme heat, and floods damage water supply and ruin barley and hop harvests — the straight line between climate change and a world without beer is imminent.

Beer drinkers who sign the climate declaration are joining together and committing to ask elected officials to get behind climate solutions, urge businesses to embrace climate investments, and encourage citizens everywhere to hold government and corporate leaders accountable for the world our kids will inherit.

"As climate change disrupts water supply and global agriculture, the economic effects will be felt even in the beer aisle. If we don't collectively act now to solve the greatest disaster of our lifetime – the climate crisis –beer, along with staples like coffee and rice, will be out of reach for many Americans," said Fechheimer. "The bottom line is that climate change makes beer taste bad and cost more, and the future of our favorite drink depends on protecting the only planet with beer." 

Fat Tire's Only Planet with Beer campaign comes after last year's Torched Earth, a less-than-stellar-tasting beer made only with ingredients from a climate-ravaged future. With Torched Earth, Fat Tire raised awareness around the fact that two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies still don't have a 2030 climate plan and launched a simple tool allowing users to see which companies have shown climate leadership – and which have not – and urge those still lacking action to step up. And in 2020, to commemorate International Beer Day, participating retailers across several markets hiked the price of Fat Tire six-packs to $100 to raise awareness to the true cost of beer in 50 years if the climate crisis continues at its current rate. Most recently, in January, Fat Tire released Point of Snow Return to call on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to require companies seeking to sponsor the Winter Games to work to protect the Games' future, too.

In 2020, New Belgium announced that Fat Tire had become America's first certified carbon neutral beer – and the entire company committed to certify all brands carbon neutral by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050 through its own rigorous climate plan. This includes continual, company-wide initiatives to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Science-Based Target Initiative (limiting warming to 1.5 Celsius) and investments in projects rigorously vetted for high impact to offset what emissions the company cannot yet eliminate. Visit DrinkSustainably.com to learn more about New Belgium's climate action plan and 2030 commitments, and to view a carbon neutrality blueprint the company released last year to share the results of its own significant investments with other breweries who want to follow a similar path.

Fat Tire Amber Ale was first introduced by New Belgium Brewing – a certified B Corporation – in 1991 and has long been one of America's most popular and enduring beers. As a long time champion for environmental initiatives, Fat Tire has established a fervent commitment to climate action that has driven the brand for more than 30 years. In 2020, the award-winning, easy-drinking ale became America's first certified carbon neutral beer and has invested significantly in customer education and advocacy around solutions to the climate crisis through Fat Tire's digital platform at DrinkSustainably.com.

New Belgium was founded in 1991 in Fort Collins, Colo., by Kim Jordan, a social worker, who built her company the only way a social worker would: People first. From the beginning, New Belgium established norms that were and still are rare in the business world: fully paid healthcare premiums for all coworkers, paying a living wage, open-book management, profit sharing, renewable energy sourcing, a free onsite medical clinic staffed by a doctor trained in LGBTQ+ medicine, certification as a B Corporation, and much more – practices that, all together, represent a unique 'human-powered' business model that has expanded over the years, especially working to inspire humanized business practices among larger companies. The company expanded to Asheville, N.C., in 2016; Denver, Colo., in 2018, and San Francisco in 2021, and is currently the fastest-growing craft brewer in America. The company is famous for its flagship beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale, along with year-round favorites like Voodoo Ranger IPA (America's #1 IPA brand), Dominga Mimosa Sour, and La Folie Sour Brown Ale; as well as an award-winning wood-aged sour program and innovative limited release beers. To learn more about the full product lineup and New Belgium's Human Powered Business model, visit NewBelgium.com.

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SOURCE New Belgium Brewing