#ncga Civitas boss steps into renewable energy debate
A significant force in the state’s conservative political circles is making its presence known in the aftermath of a controversial vote by a GOP-dominated House committee to protect renewable energy subsidies and stymie efforts to reduce consumer power bills statewide.
Francis DeLuca, the boss of bosses over at The Civitas Institute, fired off this missive yesterday to members of the House Utilities Committee:
House Bill 681, NC Energy Ratepayers Protection Act, may be coming up for consideration again. Please take time to carefully consider it and vote to allow it to move forward to consideration by more of your legislative colleagues.
While there are legitimate reasons to support and oppose the current REPS legislation, I think we all agree that we don’t want to impose more costs on consumers and want to keep NC as competitive as possible for jobs and employment. HB 681 does that by ensuring that moving forward, the cost of generating electricity will be based on lowest cost production and applicable federal and state environmental laws. One of North Carolina’s competitive advantages has been low cost electricity – we can’t afford to be known as a high cost electricity state.
Even more important the low income residents of our state can’t afford higher electric bills.
I want to thank those of you who have voted in the past for HB 681 variants and invite those who have opposed them for whatever reason to reconsider.
We have struggled for over 7 years to get NC moving economically and as the signs point to another national slowdown this is an opportunity to remove a roa
dblock placed in front of struggling families and businesses in the form of higher utility bills.
Respectfully,
Francis X De Luca
President
Civitas Institute
HB 681, introduced by Rep. Chris Millis (R-Pender), would — among other things — sunset the alternative energy mandates codified in state law and get rid of the property tax exemption on solar energy systems.
Col. De Luca is right on target. The trend in most states is against the renewable boondoggle:
http://www.redstate.com/diary/energyrabbit/2015/04/27/marita-noon-bad-time-renewable-energy-industry/
Why we have some ”Republicans” who would rather vote to support Obama energy policies than to support the official position of the North Carolina Republican Party is beyond me.
Unfortunately it’s not beyond me nor anyone who has lived in this state more than 20 years or so. NC has become a purple state. Republicans are no longer conservative here. Senator Helms would have no chance to be elected these days if he were to come onto the scene. Too many immigrants, legal and illegal, have moved this state to the left. Too many people have sold out to ‘go along to get along’. Conservative values I grew up with in NC for the past 40+ years are out of fashion. Today, we have nothing but mealy mouthed Republicans who would have been labeled liberals just 20 years ago.
A governor who can’t stand up for anything, let alone conservatism, a legislature run by out of state interest groups it seems pushing policies conservative North Carolinians don’t want, and a legislature who ran on tax cuts but haven’t seen a tax they don’t like yet.
My family has lived in this state since before it was a state and I swore since I was a child I would live and die here. But at this rate, it’s becoming clear if an opportunity arose that I could live and work to support my family elsewhere, I may just up and move.
These Republicans are an embarrassment to all that I hold true, right, and dear.
Actually, opposing the renewable energy mafia plays well with most of the electorate, other than the most doctrinaire tree huggers. The reason is that by opposing these mandates and subsidies helps keep electric bills down. That is a ”kitchen table” issue that resonates across ideological lines. When we have a kitchen table issue that actually helps conservatives, we should go for it, not sell out to the Democrats.
It is about time that some conservative “think tank” voices start speaking out. These groups are WAY TOO SILENT all too frequently and need to spend less time on academic missives (that nobody — sadly — reads) and MORE time calling out the politicians for their squirmy ways. Conservative think tank voices frequently seem to be more concerned with maintaining access, not offending the “powers that be,” working within the system, etc. than defending the principles for which they claim they stand.
Think tanks have a tax status that constrains what they can do on many things. I am glad to see them doing more, but I am well aware that there are limits connected to their tax status.
What NC needs is a conservative PAC to go after the scoundrels who betray us. South Carolina has a successful model for that as a state affiliate of the Club for Growth, a national conservative PAC and policy organization:
http://www.scclubforgrowth.org/pac
Conservatives need to come up with our own PAC in North Carolina and start compiling a target list. Those who voted for the green left on the renewable energy legislation would be a fitting place to start.