American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the subversive Koch-funded
The climate-change-denial-
Charles and David have for years used Americans for Prosperity to wage an anti-renewables war across the country, most notably in Florida and North Carolina, where the anti-regulations warrior brothers are, yes, fighting for more regulations on solar energy technology.
The Kochs’ hypocritical anti-renewables efforts have earned them criticism from a Florida newspaper editorial board and even pushback from one of the Tea Party’s most prominent activists earliest organizers.
Undeterred by public outcry as ever, the Kochs are getting some backup from, well, themselves — or ALEC, anyway. A newly-adopted ALEC resolution endorses and seeks to legally entrench the Kochs’ plan to suppress the growth and adoption of solar energy.
According to the Koch-backed Heartland Institute, the resolution aims to stop an effort to institute “market-share carve-outs to allow the solar power industry keep ownership of the equipment – and the government subsidies given to the owners of solar power equipment – and sell solar power rather than the solar equipment directly to consumers.”
While individuals can under current law purchase solar power technology outright, allowing companies to maintain ownership of the panels and other equipment, and effectively lease it out by charging customers for the power, would in theory cut down on consumers’ fixed costs and broadly expand their ability to access the clean energy technology.
But it’s the Kochs we’re talking about here: The anti-government-regulations guys who’ve aggressively pushed for regulations that suppress clean energy innovation and proliferation; the billionaire brothers who’ve spent tens of millions of dollars to discredit the scientific consensus of climate change. In 2014 alone, Koch Industries spent $13.7 million on pro-oil and gas lobbying.
With the Koch brothers, it always comes down to protecting their profit margins — and they aren’t about to let consumer choice and public welfare get in the way of their selfish agenda.