Opinion

MARK FLEMING: Conservatives support clean energy to boost economic development, promote free enterprise

Saturday, June 16, 2018 -- North Carolina voters who describe themselves as conservatives outpace liberals in support for clean energy. When we tested voters' thoughts on the recent Duke Energy rate cases, slightly more conservatives (53 percent) than liberals (47 percent) favored letting private companies directly enter the energy market in North Carolina, seeking the kind of market competition that benefits customers.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Mark Fleming is president and CEO of Raleigh-base Conservatives for Clean Energy.

When you think about the terms “clean energy” and “conservative,” you may not think they belong in the same sentence. However that myth is less true now than it’s ever been. In fact, conservative voters in North Carolina and across the nation are strongly supportive of common sense policies that enable the growth of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

For the fourth consecutive year, Conservatives for Clean Energy (CCE) commissioned a statewide survey of 600 North Carolina voters to gain a broad understanding of their attitudes regarding energy issues. The results show support for clean energy continues to grow among North Carolina voters, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.

We asked whether voters would be more or less likely to support a legislator or candidate who favored renewable energy options like wind, solar, and biomass technologies. Results showed that 90 percent of registered Democrats supported such a candidate. No surprise there, you might say.

But how about this: 87 percent of unaffiliated voters and 79 percent of Republicans expressed support for clean energy. That’s right – almost eight in 10 Republican voters want their candidates to demonstrate support for renewable energy options.

Several years ago, policy debates involving renewable energy revolved around subsidies. Conservatives understandably balked at some policies that they thought picked “winners and losers.” With the technological gains of the past few years and the rapidly falling cost of solar and wind energy, renewables are now cost competitive with traditional fossil fuels. The debate has shifted significantly to allowing for market access, healthy competition and customer choice as to where, how and from whom you purchase your energy.

In fact, the poll found that on some issues, voters who describe themselves as conservatives outpace liberals in support for clean energy. When we tested voters’ thoughts on the recent Duke Energy rate cases, slightly more conservatives (53 percent) than liberals (47 percent) favored letting private companies directly enter the energy market in North Carolina, seeking the kind of market competition that benefits customers. In that same question, only 14 percent of conservatives said they supported Duke Energy’s $13.8 billion plan, which would raise bills to implement a number of projects – some helpful, some involving more routine maintenance and repairs.

And, when it comes to reducing regulation and allowing for more private-sector development of solar, wind, and biomass, Republicans again outpaced Democrats in support (85 percent to 79 percent).

In my opinion, and evidently in the opinion of many other North Carolina conservatives, support for clean energy is about support for economic development. It’s about strengthening our state’s economy and the overall business climate. It’s about the tenets that we as conservatives have been staking claim to for the life of our party, and it would be more surprising to me if the poll had not indicated conservative support for clean energy.

Political leaders from both parties would be wise to heed voter feedback: North Carolinians want more choices related to their energy consumption, the opportunity for healthy energy market competition, and enhanced access to clean energy.

For more information about Conservatives for Clean Energy and our 2018 poll results, please visit our website here.

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