{"id":306533,"date":"2024-03-08T12:27:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T11:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=306533"},"modified":"2024-03-08T12:27:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T11:27:42","slug":"market-environmentalists-vs-wind-solar-battery-industrialization-sprawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=306533","title":{"rendered":"Market Environmentalists vs. Wind\/Solar\/Battery Industrialization, Sprawl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"723\" data-attachment-id=\"306536\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=306536\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,1024\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"OIG-83\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?fit=723%2C723&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=723%2C723&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-306536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=800%2C800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=450%2C450&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=60%2C60&amp;ssl=1 60w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?resize=550%2C550&amp;ssl=1 550w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterresource.org\/free-market-environmentalism\/free-market-vs-wind-solar-industrialization-sprawl\/\">Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese aforementioned groups and individuals are standing tall against the Climate Industrial Complex and Big Government Wind, Big Governmental Solar, Big Government Batteries, and the I-want-to-control-your-energy-life elitists. The real environmentalists speak from the grassroots, not from Washington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article by Dave Anderson for the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.org\/about\/\">Energy and Policy Institute<\/a>, (EPI), \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=05e0a40cfb&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blocking Renewable Energy is a Top State Legislative Priority for Network of Pro-fossil Fuels Think Tanks<\/a>,\u201d lists the names of many organizations and individuals who should be&nbsp;<em>applauded<\/em>&nbsp;for their efforts to spare the living, green space from industrialization and energy sprawl. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dense energy is the most environmental, as pointed out by the late Peter Huber in&nbsp;<em>Hard Green: Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists<\/em>&nbsp;(New York: Basic Books, 1999):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The greenest fuels are the ones that contain the most energy per pound of material that must be mined, trucked, pumped, piped, and burnt. [In contrast], extracting comparable amounts of energy from the surface would entail truly monstrous environmental disruption\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The greenest possible strategy is to mine and to bury, to fly and to tunnel, to search high and low, where the life mostly isn\u2019t, and so to leave the edge, the space in the middle, living and green.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anderson in his article also fails to understand that the \u201cPro-fossil Fuel Think Tanks\u201d are less pro-fossil fuels than they are pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, pro-freedom, and pro-environment. The problem of massive industrial wind turbines and solar acreage is that consumers do not like them and they are bad neighbors as judged by real local grassroots environmentalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back to the article. Dave Anderson provides the following list for real environmental applause:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The State Policy Network (SPN)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=519b286ff7&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced on its website<\/a>&nbsp;last month that it will focus on working with state lawmakers to prevent states from adopting wind and solar power in 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=ec0a666e62&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SPN<\/a>&nbsp;is the national organization that serves as the central hub of a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=05ffbb2ccc&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">network<\/a>&nbsp;of affiliated think tanks located in all 50 states, and is funded by right-wing and corporate donors that include fossil fuel interests. The network also includes&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=ad0fa8ce79&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">associate groups<\/a>&nbsp;like the Donald Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute and multiple organizations backed by Charles Koch, such as Americans for Prosperity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Koch is the billionaire CEO and chairman of Koch Industries, which operates in multiple sectors of the fossil fuel industry. His Stand Together Trust contributed $5 million in 2022 to SPN-affiliated think tanks and millions more to SPN associates like the American Legislative Exchange Council and Cato Institute,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=88aeb128c3&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to the Center for Media &amp; Democracy<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Energy and Policy Institute is publishing new research profiles of SPN and several affiliated think tanks involved in coast-to-coast efforts to block renewable energy projects<\/em>. Highlights and links to the new profiles can be found below:&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=d68d8f37c9&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">State Policy Network<\/a><\/strong>: SPN has brought on Amy Oliver Cooke, a political consultant who previously worked for a SPN-affiliated think tank in Colorado that was funded by coal producers in Wyoming, to lead its Energy Policy Working Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sponsors of SPN\u2019s annual meeting in Chicago last year included the American Fuel &amp; Petrochemical Manufacturers, Stand Together Trust, and the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity.&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=627c64e74c&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Texas Public Policy Foundation<\/a>&nbsp;(TPPF)<\/strong>: TPPF, which received more than $3 million from Stand Together Trust and the Charles Koch Institute in 2021 and 2022, ran an online fundraising campaign last year that featured false claims about offshore wind farms \u201cbeaching whales\u201d and aimed to raise $500,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ten of the nineteen individuals listed on TPPF\u2019s board of directors web page have direct financial connections to the fossil fuel industry.&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=2e045e38d5&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Caesar Rodney Institute<\/a>&nbsp;(CRI):&nbsp;<\/strong>CRI is leading SPN\u2019s national campaign against offshore wind power. The Delaware-based SPN affiliate received $162,500 from the du Pont family\u2019s Longwood Foundation in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Longwood Foundation\u2019s president Th\u00e8re du Pont is a director for the DuPont Company, which sells products used by coal and methane gas power plants, and the foundation\u2019s chairman Charlie Copeland works for CRI. Ben du Pont chaired a $150-per-person fundraising dinner for CRI\u2019s anti-offshore wind campaign in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=e676f76346&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cascade Policy Institute<\/a><\/strong>: The Oregon-based SPN affiliate published a report, \u201cQuantifying the Unreliability of Wind and Solar Power in the Northwest,\u201d last year by Eric Fruits. Fruits is also a senior scholar for the International Center for Law &amp; Economics, which received $500,000 in 2022 from Koch\u2019s Stand Together Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Other SPN affiliates and associate groups have also been ramping up efforts to block renewable energy<\/em>&nbsp;The&nbsp;<strong><em>Buckeye Institute, an Ohio-based SPN affiliate<\/em>,<\/strong>&nbsp;has made the Frasier Solar project and Knox County officials the latest targets of its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=f75b663a37&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">campaign against Ohio\u2019s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PILOT payment arrangements provide renewable energy developers with tax certainty, while ensuring counties benefit from reliable revenue from wind and solar projects for local schools and services. Frasier Solar has faced opposition from Knox Smart Development, an anti-solar LLC that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=2b9fffaf8e&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has connections to the gas industry<\/a>&nbsp;and has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=490bb2b6c6&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">used<\/a>&nbsp;the Buckeye Institute\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=95f09df8cd&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">flawed analysis<\/a>&nbsp;in its efforts to derail the solar project.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Buckeye Institute\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=0f54814410&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Board of Trustees includes Mark Jordan<\/a>, the president of the gas exploration and production company Knox Energy. Jordan also serves on the board of the Kirkpatrick Jordan Foundation, which contributed $35,000 to $40,000 annually to the Buckeye Institute in recent years,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=17c2ac0c90&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to IRS Form 990s<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<strong>Center of the American Experiment,&nbsp;<\/strong>which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=e05b93f499&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received $250,000<\/a>&nbsp;from Koch\u2019s Stand Together Trust in 2022, has run&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=9cc2310fac&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">multiple<\/a>&nbsp;anti-wind and anti-solar ad campaigns on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=29a1d4806c&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>. The Minnesota-based SPN affiliate also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=2b03616a64&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received $20,000 from Americans for Prosperity<\/a>&nbsp;in 2021, when it published an anti-renewables report, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=3e49b1ea03&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Not in Our Backyard<\/a>,\u201d by Robert Bryce, a leading purveyor of anti-renewable energy disinformation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Center of the American Experiment\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=a6dbab2874&amp;e=1b7d67f313\">Facebook ads<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;The&nbsp;<strong>John Locke Foundation<\/strong>, a North Carolina-based SPN affiliate, is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=7e5ba9cab6&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">busy fighting solar farms<\/a>&nbsp;and offshore wind. The group&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=20b46ad9f7&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received $100,000<\/a>&nbsp;in 2022 from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=6cca34e646&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the dark money ATM of the right<\/a>,\u201d Donors Trust, which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=441716d7ee&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contributed $19.3 million to SPN affiliates<\/a>&nbsp;that year.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>Mackinac Center for Public Policy<\/strong>, Michigan\u2019s SPN affiliate,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=699d1e48f5&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received $525,000 from Stand Together Trust<\/a>&nbsp;in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=70078ce9b4&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supporting<\/a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=32e514b082&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Citizens for Local Choice<\/a>&nbsp;ballot initiative, which aims to repeal Michigan\u2019s new law aimed at streamlining renewable energy siting in the state. The leaders of the ballot initiative include longtime anti-wind and solar activist&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=0822a45d1b&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kevon Martis<\/a>.&nbsp; Martis is also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=25880c5a12&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">listed<\/a>&nbsp;as a Senior Policy Fellow at the&nbsp;<strong>Energy and Environment Legal Institute<\/strong>&nbsp;(E&amp;E Legal), a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=36750fab24&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Virginia-based SPN associate<\/a>&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=639f18e08a&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received funding from the coal industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martis and Bryce spoke&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=bc8873ba3c&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">last month at a Knox Smart Development anti-solar event in Ohio<\/a>. E&amp;E Legal received nearly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=c71749ce14&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$950,000 in 2022 from Donors Trust<\/a>.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>Cato Institute<\/strong>, a national SPN associate,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=719828342c&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received $1.8 million<\/a>&nbsp;from Stand Together Trust in 2022. Cato hired former Trump Department of Energy politico appointee Travis Fisher, a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=abff95a6c4&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">longtime foe of renewables<\/a>, last year. Fisher&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=8aef4ae826&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spoke in January at an anti-offshore wind meeting<\/a>&nbsp;in Maryland led by several Republican members of Congress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Linnea Luekin of the&nbsp;<strong>Heartland Institute<\/strong>, another SPN associate located in Illinois,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=61a826c6fa&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called for 2-mile setbacks for wind turbines<\/a>&nbsp;in an appearance last month before state lawmakers in West Virginia. Heartland&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=a77ed6656d&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received more than $1.25 million<\/a>&nbsp;from Donors Trust in 2022.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>Manhattan Institute<\/strong>, an SPN affiliate based in New York,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=ef53a1ae00&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received $495,000 from Stand Together Trust<\/a>&nbsp;and $<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=4f9a256c0d&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1.6 million from hedge funder Paul Singer\u2019s foundation<\/a>&nbsp;in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adjunct fellow Jonathan Lesser has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=fc1e14a065&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">churned out a steady stream of anti-renewables opinion pieces<\/a>&nbsp;featured in Forbes, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal.&nbsp; Lesser is also president of the consulting firm Continental Economics, where&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=d5887adc3a&amp;e=1b7d67f313\">his clients<\/a>&nbsp;have included multiple pipeline companies, and the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/energyandpolicy.us12.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=23de76d069dce231e7f1007d7&amp;id=598f799974&amp;e=1b7d67f313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">group backed by Oxbow Carbon CEO Bill Koch<\/a>&nbsp;that fought Cape Wind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These aforementioned groups and individuals (and many more) are standing tall against the Climate Industrial Complex and Big Government Wind, Big Governmental Solar, Big Government Batteries, and the I-want-to-control-your-energy-life elitists. from the grassroots, not from Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThese aforementioned groups and individuals are standing tall against the Climate Industrial Complex and Big Government Wind, Big Governmental Solar, Big Government Batteries, and the I-want-to-control-your-energy-life elitists. The real environmentalists speak from the grassroots, not from Washington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":306536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"\u201cThese aforementioned groups and individuals are standing tall against the Climate Industrial Complex and Big Government Wind, Big Governmental Solar, Big Government Batteries, and the I-want-to-control-your-energy-life elitists. The real environmentalist","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691827480,691818499,691819094,691819121],"class_list":{"0":"post-306533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-charles-koch-institute","9":"tag-environmentalists","10":"tag-renewable-green-energy","11":"tag-wind-and-solar-power","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/OIG-83.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1hK5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":349777,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349777","url_meta":{"origin":306533,"position":0},"title":"Greens Detest \u2018Little Guys\u2019 Who Get in Their Way","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Environmentalists insist they love \u201clittle guys.\u201d At least in the abstract, until those folks get in the way, raise inconvenient questions, or try to block \u201crenewable energy\u201d projects intended to \u201csave the planet\u201d from \u201cmanmade climate cataclysms.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO2)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO2)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Wind-and-Solar-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Wind-and-Solar-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Wind-and-Solar-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Wind-and-Solar-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Wind-and-Solar-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":406098,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=406098","url_meta":{"origin":306533,"position":1},"title":"\u201cClimate Pragmatism\u201d: The New Retreat","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIs this really the climate movement\u2019s next chapter?\u201d\u00a0asked\u00a0Stephen Lacey, cofounder and executive editor of\u00a0Latitude Media, a publication \u201ccovering the new frontiers of the energy transition.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"climate alarmism\"","block_context":{"text":"climate alarmism","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQNStSyavb_rssxLvLUk_nzcBjZ-IXl-lYny0Fk-n0tX1YW7L_jPKSnrJ4unfusJvxQ5mkQ_2riDQYo_8aVDkV-KBxFM1uJ6IHJqdZ94R_GmLuBPGKhpwkN0qnahmc71.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQNStSyavb_rssxLvLUk_nzcBjZ-IXl-lYny0Fk-n0tX1YW7L_jPKSnrJ4unfusJvxQ5mkQ_2riDQYo_8aVDkV-KBxFM1uJ6IHJqdZ94R_GmLuBPGKhpwkN0qnahmc71.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQNStSyavb_rssxLvLUk_nzcBjZ-IXl-lYny0Fk-n0tX1YW7L_jPKSnrJ4unfusJvxQ5mkQ_2riDQYo_8aVDkV-KBxFM1uJ6IHJqdZ94R_GmLuBPGKhpwkN0qnahmc71.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQNStSyavb_rssxLvLUk_nzcBjZ-IXl-lYny0Fk-n0tX1YW7L_jPKSnrJ4unfusJvxQ5mkQ_2riDQYo_8aVDkV-KBxFM1uJ6IHJqdZ94R_GmLuBPGKhpwkN0qnahmc71.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AQNStSyavb_rssxLvLUk_nzcBjZ-IXl-lYny0Fk-n0tX1YW7L_jPKSnrJ4unfusJvxQ5mkQ_2riDQYo_8aVDkV-KBxFM1uJ6IHJqdZ94R_GmLuBPGKhpwkN0qnahmc71.png?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":348708,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=348708","url_meta":{"origin":306533,"position":2},"title":"Rural and coastal residents delay, block green energy projects","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"24\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Environmentalists insist that they love the \u201clittle guys\u201d \u2014 until they get in their way, ask inconvenient questions or try to block renewable energy projects intended to save the planet from \u201chuman-caused climate cataclysms.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden-Harris Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden-Harris Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-harris-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Wind-solar-sky.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Wind-solar-sky.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Wind-solar-sky.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Wind-solar-sky.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Wind-solar-sky.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Wind-solar-sky.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":246612,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246612","url_meta":{"origin":306533,"position":3},"title":"Are Grassroot Wind\/Solar Foes \u2018Cultish\u2019? (Peter Sinclair vs. Kevon Martis again)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/03\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"DC-based Big Environmentalism has a grassroots problem: local residents who do not like or want super-sized industrial wind turbines and multi-acre solar slabs.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-101.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-101.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-101.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-101.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-101.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":200265,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=200265","url_meta":{"origin":306533,"position":4},"title":"Planet Strippers: Wind Turbines &#038; Solar Panels Driving Insatiable Mineral Demand","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Incapable of delivering power as and when we need it, wind and solar are utterly pointless as power sources. But, as a source of insatiable demand for the Planet\u2019s (purportedly) dwindling resources they are first rate. Wind turbines and solar panels devour scarce resources and provide nothing much in return.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0rare-earth-mine.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0rare-earth-mine.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0rare-earth-mine.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0rare-earth-mine.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0rare-earth-mine.jpg?fit=1200%2C677&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":349717,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349717","url_meta":{"origin":306533,"position":5},"title":"Big Green projects hoisted by their own petards","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"For decades environmentalists raised questionable, but often successful, objections to block mines, pipelines, nuclear power, and oil and gas operations. Now, as Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet might say, they are \u201choisted by their own petards,\u201d referring to a small explosive device used in siege warfare.","rel":"","context":"In \"battery energy storage facility\"","block_context":{"text":"battery energy storage facility","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=battery-energy-storage-facility"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=306533"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306537,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306533\/revisions\/306537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/306536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=306533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=306533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=306533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}