The Politics of Solar Energy Are Getting Weird, Mean, and a Little MAGA
A pro-solar PAC, the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, is using aggressive political attack ads against congressional candidates who oppose renewable energy. This marks a departure from the traditionally polite, science-focused advocacy of green groups, signaling a more combative era in energy politics.
Why it matters
It highlights the professionalization and hardening of climate-related political lobbying, mirroring the aggressive tactics historically used by the fossil fuel industry.
That same PAC is producing a spot hitting Anthony Constantino, a Trumpist congressional candidate in upstate New York, because someone used his sticker-printing company to briefly make stickers that read, “Kill the Police.”
Attack ads are everywhere in the last month ahead of November’s election. But these spots are a little different. The semi-anonymous PAC that’s funding and making the ads, the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, is a pro-solar-energy outfit. It’s funded in part by crypto billionaire Chris Larsen and run by a team of New York City political operatives.
“Playing hardball politics, that's what our opponents do, right, in oil and gas? And I just think the solar industry has been—I don't know how to describe it—a little too nice,” says Larsen, the cofounder of the blockchain finance firm Ripple and a major backer of the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition.
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