‘Conservatives’ Push Big Solar Agenda

April 20, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Francis De Luca, (919) 834-2099       francis.deluca@nccivitas.org

CIVITAS SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Conservatives’ Push Big Solar Agenda Funded by the Left

RALEIGH – Well-financed leftist foundations are behind the “Big Solar” movement in North Carolina being embraced by a growing number of Republicans, according to a new article by the Civitas Institute.

“These days it seems tacking the word ‘conservative’ on to a name of a group has become a tactic by not-so-conservative activists who wish to dupe those who support free markets,” says Civitas analyst Susan Myrick, author of the article.

Left-wing organizations Sea Change and the Energy Foundation, among others, are working together to fund the radical left environmental movement in North Carolina. The Republicans working to achieve the Left’s environmental goal of government mandates, tax incentives and subsidies to sustain Big Solar are supporting a decidedly non-conservative environmental agenda.

For instance, in 2014 Conservatives for Clean Energy received $350,000 from the Energy Foundation and the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Alliance has received $925,000 (46 percent of its grant funding) from the Energy Foundation since 2008.

According to research, Sea Change Foundation is a private California foundation that relies on funding from a foreign company with undisclosed donors, and supports many radical leftist environmental causes across the nation. The Energy Foundation is the largest recipient of grants from the foreign-funded Sea Change Foundation.

“A growing number of so-called conservatives in Raleigh are lining the pockets of special interests funded by their political opponents,” added Myrick. “This type of political patronage makes the current leadership look a lot like the progressives who controlled North Carolina for more than 100 years.”

To read the article, click here.

Civitas Policy Analyst Susan Myrick is available for interviews. To reach her, call (919) 834-2099 or emails susan.myrick@nccivitas.org.

More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Communications Director Jim Tynen at james.tynen@nccivitas.org or (919) 834-2099.