Fissures in G.O.P. as Some Conservatives Embrace Renewable Energy

Image: The Phoenix home of David Leeper, a Republican who has installed solar panels on his roof. Samantha Sais for The New York Times

nytimes.com - January 25th, 2014 - John Schwartz

In conservative politics, solar power is often dismissed as an affectation, part of a liberal agenda to funnel money to “solar cronies” of the Obama administration and further the “global warming hoax.”

So one would not expect to see Barry Goldwater Jr., the very picture of modern conservatism and son of the 1964 Republican nominee for president, arguing passionately on behalf of solar energy customers. But there he was last fall, very publicly opposing a push by Arizona’s biggest utility to charge as much as $100 a month to people who put solar panels on their roofs.

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