An alliance of corporations and conservative activists is mobilizing to penalize homeowners who install their own solar panels — casting them as “free riders” — in a sweeping new offensive against renewable energy.
Over the coming year, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) will promote legislation with goals ranging from penalizing individual homeowners and weakening state clean energy regulations, to blocking the Environmental Protection Agency, which is Barack Obama’s main channel for climate action.
Details of ALEC’s strategy to block clean energy development at every stage — from the individual rooftop to the White House — are revealed as the group gathers for its policy summit in Washington this week.
About 800 state legislators and business leaders are due to attend the three-day event, which begins on Wednesday with appearances by the Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson and fellow Wisconsinite and Republican budget guru Paul Ryan.
Another ALEC speaker will be senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a leading figure behind the recent government shutdown, and the governors of Indiana and Wyoming, Mike Penc... Read more
