What’s driving a surge in renewables opposition?

In five years, we've tripled the amount of solar capacity connected to America's grid. Wind capacity has grown 60% in the last 5 years. And in just the last year alone, battery capacity has doubled.

But there’s also a surge in opposition to local projects. According to the Sabin Center for Climate Law at Columbia University, there are now 121 local policies that restrict or outright ban wind and solar in 31 states – a nearly 18% increase from 2021. What’s causing it?

The opposition is coming in many different forms. In this episode, we'll focus on two of them: the coordinated spread of disinformation in local Facebook groups, and dark money going to news websites that are protecting utility political power.

We’ll talk with Michael Thomas, author of the Distilled newsletter, who embedded himself with dozens of local Facebook groups devoted to fighting renewables. 

And we’ll also speak with Miranda Green, director of investigations at Floodlight, about the coordination of bad information spread on Facebook. Plus, she’ll tell the story of how her team uncovered a new method of influence peddling: utilities propping up news sites that cut down critics.

The Carbon Copy is supported by FischTank PR, a public relations, strategic messaging, and social media agency dedicated to elevating the work of climate and clean energy companies. Learn more about FischTank’s approach to cleantech and their services: fischtankpr.com.

The Carbon Copy is brought to you by Sungrow. Now in more than 150 countries, Sungrow’s solutions include inverters for utility-scale, commercial & industrial solar, plus energy storage systems. Learn more at us.sungrowpower.com.