[SUNDAY FEATURE] Fissures in GOP as some conservatives embrace renewable energy

By John Schwartz | The New York Times

In conservative politics, solar power is often dismissed as an affectation, part of a liberal agenda to funnel money to “solar cronies” of the Obama administration and further the “global warming hoax.”

So one would not expect to see Barry Goldwater Jr., the very picture of modern conservatism and son of the 1964 Republican nominee for president, arguing passionately on behalf of solar energy customers. But there he was last fall, very publicly opposing a push by Arizona’s biggest utility to charge as much as $100 a month to people who put solar panels on their roofs.

The utilities, backed by conservative business interests, argue that solar users who have lower power bills because of government subsidies are not paying their fair share to maintain the power grid. Mr. Goldwater and other advocates have struck back by calling the proposed fees a “solar tax,” and have pushed their message in ads on Fox News and the Drudge Report.

Similar conflicts are going on in California and Colorado, with many more to come. And as the issue pops up, conservatives are even joining forces with environmental groups. In Georgia, a Tea Party activist and the Sierra Club formed a “Green Tea Coalition.”

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Comment: “This crap started back with Goldwater when they thought at the time he had gone soft, gone Liberal as in Dem. The bunch then wanted to take his name off Repub Hdqtrs. He told me to get a few pals and go at midnight and take it down. It’s worse now. These peeps are not Repubs, i.e., the party of Lincoln and Jefferson.” ~ George Seitts, former aide to Sen. Barry Goldwater.

If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, director of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com