Clean Tech pits Republicans against each other.
The Republican-eat-Republican battle over Tesla mirrors another clean energy fight playing out nationwide. Conservatives aligned with large utility companies are squaring off with the solar power industry and libertarian-leaning Republicans over rules to allow homeowners with solar panels to sell excess power back to the grid, a policy known as net metering, which is allowed in more than 40 states. Some utility companies, however, worry the practice will disrupt their business model as more and more homes go solar. That fight has been particularly vicious in Arizona, where the son of conservative icon Barry Goldwater has led the pro-solar charge on free market arguments.
"In a lot of ways, [clean energy] is an existential crisis" for Republicans, said Marita Mirzatuny, a Texas-based energy analyst for the Environmental Defense Fund. Some "are fighting on behalf of old entrenched regulations, which seems counterintuitive," because at the same time "there's a lot of money and momentum moving into the clean tech realm."
With Tesla's battery factory on the line, the stakes are now higher than ever, and Arizona is poised to become the first state of the four in line for the factory to clear its regulatory hurdles.
"For Texas to lose out because of regulation like that is the ultimate irony," Mirzatuny said.
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/03/gop-lawmakers-scramble-green-energy-cash
