Apr 5, 2023 · 33m · green-blueprint
What’s driving a surge in renewables opposition?
0:00 / 0:00
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of The Carbon Copy, host Stephen Lacey and investigative journalists expose the coordinated forces stifling the US renewable energy transition, from viral social media disinformation and dark-money front groups to utility-funded fake news networks.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The hosts as informed peer 6.0 Guest teaching 5.9 Guest disagreement 0.0 The hosts pushing back 0.0
speaking balance: gold is the hosts, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 25:41 Terry Dunn's bitter parting quote
In a completely collaborative episode, the closest element to aggressive confrontation is Green quoting former commissioner Terry Dunn bitterly rebuking Alabama voters for abandoning him after complaining about high power rates.
Hardest push from the hosts ▶ 28:06 Lacey clarifies utility motivations regarding renewablesLacey reframes the narrative by clarifying that utility opposition is not purely anti-renewable, but rather aimed at maintaining monopoly ownership over power assets and squashing customer empowerment.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:57 Thomas reveals anti-renewables groups do not deny climate scienceThomas illuminates a counterintuitive finding that surprising numbers of local opponents acknowledge climate change but have been misled by specific disinformation about clean energy solutions.
The host holds their own ▶ 17:22 Lacey introduces Sabin Center data on restrictive local policiesLacey exhibits strong subject expertise by introducing specific statistics from Columbia's Sabin Center showing a 20 percent annual rise in local renewable bans.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The hosts as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The hosts pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncovering Viral Misinformation in Anti-Renewable Facebook Groups | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Lacey guides the interview by framing the Caesar Rodney Institute and Facebook groups, while Thomas explains the specific viral tropes (burning turbines, leaking panels) and contrasts them with DOE safety statistics. | |
| The Carbon Copy: Disinformation and Utility Power Dynamics | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Lacey draws parallels to broader social media disinformation vectors and questions the profile of group participants. Thomas educates listeners on how members surprisingly accept climate science but fiercely reject the solutions. | |
| Citizens for Responsible Solar and Organized Local Interference | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Lacey provides deep background on Susan Ralston's political ties and donor funding from Paul Singer and conservative legal networks. Green elaborates on on-the-ground case studies in Spotsylvania and Culpeper, Virginia. | |
| Nationwide Proliferation of Restrictive Clean Energy Ordinances | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Lacey directly brings in research data from the Sabin Center at Columbia University showing a 20% jump in restrictive policies. Thomas and Green contextualize the systematic playbook used across 49 states. | |
| Utility Astroturfing and Matrix LLC's Secret News Network | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Lacey details the political consultancy Matrix LLC and its ties to FPL and Alabama Power. Green details how leaked ledgers revealed financial conduit mechanisms for six astroturfed local news outlets. | |
| The Smearing of Terry Dunn and Consequences for Energy Markets | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Lacey adds essential market context explaining that regulated utilities like FPL do not oppose renewables fundamentally, but rather oppose customer-owned rooftop solar to defend their monopoly. Green reviews the political takedown of Terry Dunn. | |
| Exploiting Local News Deserts to Manufacture Public Consent | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Lacey quotes directly from Green's investigative reporting regarding the collapse of local newspapers. Green explains how Matrix exploited this information vacuum by manufacturing glowing PR disguised as organic local journalism. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Lacey: US solar tripled and wind grew 60% over five years
“In the last five years, we've tripled the amount of solar capacity connected to America's grid. Wind capacity has grown 60% in that time frame, and in just the last year alone, battery capacity has doubled.”
Lacey: Grid interconnection queues are delaying over one terawatt of clean energy
“Long interconnection queues that are delaying over a terawatt of clean energy capacity, Yes, a terawatt, that's a real number.”
Lacey: Caesar Rodney Institute is Koch-funded and bankrolls offshore wind opposition
“It's this free market think tank supported by the Kochs that is bankrolling opposition to offshore wind, and that quickly brought him to Facebook.”
Thomas: DOE found safety issues in under 100 of 40,000 wind turbines
“There was a study by the Department of Energy a couple years back, and they looked at the 40,000 wind turbines in America, and they found that less than a hundred of them had any sort of safety issue, and I think only a handful had, had caught fire.”
Thomas: There is zero documented contamination of town water supplies by solar panels
“There's never been A single documented instance of solar panels that have contaminated a town's water supply compared to fossil fuels where that's actually a very common experience or has happened a number of times.”
Thomas: Renewable Opponents Target Clean Energy Solutions, Not Climate Science
“I think one of the biggest surprises when I started to research misinformation was that people aren't denying the science of climate change. A lot of the misinformation was more related to the solution to climate change.”
Thomas: Facebook Misinformation Spurs Vocal Local Backlash Against Renewable Projects
“When there's a county commission meeting debating whether or not a wind farm or solar farm is going to be approved, people show up in the dozens. In a lot of cases, it leads to these screaming matches in county commission meetings, and people who used to go to…”
Susan Ralston's firm received $300,000 from the Paul Singer Foundation
“At the time she was setting up Citizens for Responsible Solar, Ralston's firm pulled in 300,000 dollars from the Paul Singer Foundation,”
Paul Singer's firm is the largest investor in Peabody Energy
“Paul Singer owns an investment firm that happens to be the largest investor in Peabody Energy, America's top coal producer.”
Thomas: Local opponents have blocked clean energy in 49 US states
“Clean energy projects have been blocked by local opponents in 49 out of 50 states.”
Thomas: Over 30 states have local bans or restrictions on clean energy
“Local governments in more than 30 states have passed local ordinances that either severely restrict clean energy development or outright ban it, and more than a hundred local governments have passed severe restrictions Setbacks that make it almost impossible t…”
Green: Local anti-solar groups receive payments from climate denial networks
“And then they're supported by groups online or in their state or in their community that have ulterior motives, which we found. They're getting payments from organizations that have connections to climate denial,”
Florida Power & Light paid Matrix millions to fund ghost candidates
“An investigation from the Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel found that FPNL, Florida's biggest utility, sent millions of dollars to Matrix to prop up fake candidates in local races. Those so-called ghost candidates siphoned votes away from candidates who the u…”
Matrix used utility funds to secretly finance six local news sites
“The floodlight team found direct financial links between six local news outlets, Matrix, FPNL, and Alabama Power. Matrix used utility money to fund political websites with names like Alabama Today, Florida Politics, and The Capitalist, and buy favorable covera…”
Matrix-Backed News Sites Rewrote Alabama Power PR Without Disclosure
“A lot of them were actually pulling direct stories from Alabama Power has its own PR website, and they were basically pulling directly from their PR press releases and rewriting them into stories without saying that they were.”
Alabama Power had not held a rate hearing in 30 years
“Alabama Power had not had to have a rate hearing in 30 years, three decades, and Terry Dunn said, that's something I want to look into.”
Alabama Power earns top utility profits while residents pay high bills
“Alabama Power has It's had some of the highest earnings out of any utility company in the country year after year, specifically in the last couple of years. And people in the state of Alabama are paying some of the highest utility bills.”