The Sierra Club charged today that the fossil fuel
industry “is not only waging an attack on renewable energy in the political
sphere through immense financial contributions to elected officials, but they
are also funding a concerted, covert misinformation campaign.”
Through faux
“think tanks,” phony intellectuals, and astroturf groups masquerading as
“concerned citizens,” the industry is seeking to shift public opinion and
discredit renewable energy,” the organization said in a new report, Clean Energy Under Siege.
If that’s true, then what message was being sent by New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie, an active campaigner for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, when he signed legislation boosting the state’s solar industry?
************************************************************************************************************
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment.
************************************************************************************************************
Was Christie breaking ranks with those bent on sustaining Big Oil/Coal’s reign?
Likely not, according to those quoted today in an interesting story in Inside Climate News.
“He [understands] the practical benefits of having good policies in the
state,” said Carrie Hitt, vice president for state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association. “But he’s not going to campaign to promote renewables across the country.”Andrew Krulewitz, a solar analyst at GTM Research,
said it would have reflected poorly on Christie to “let the bottom fall
out” of the solar market. “He didn’t want to see all these new jobs
leave the state.”
Following the bill signing, Christie said that building the solar
economy is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. “It’s an issue
that the people of our state demand we work on together,” he said.
“I think it’s important for conservatives to hear the message from a
credible source like Gov. Christie that solar energy is not liberal—in
fact, it’s not conservative either. It just makes sense from an economic
development standpoint,” said Jim DiPeso, policy director for ConservAmerica, a conservative policy group. Last year, approximately 100,300 Americans worked in the U.S. solar industry, says The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit group.
What do YOU think? Is the Republican Party hopelessly committed to a fossil fuel future? Has industry purchased that allegiance through campaign contributions, as the Sierra Club contends? Does Christie see a more nuanced position as beneficial to his national political plans? Should he? Share your thoughts in the opinion box below. If one is not visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.
See our latest posts:
Another PSEG solar farm breaks ground; more coming
Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper
New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume
RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smack-down; Enviros livid
Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue
