QUICK NEWS, April 1: Young Republicans Advocate For Science; Big New Energy Buy-In From High Big Biz

Young Republicans Advocate For Science Young Republicans push party to drop climate change skepticism; Strategists warn that Trump’s anti-green rhetoric is alienating younger conservatives

Kiran Stacey and Courtney Weaver, April 1, 2019

“Senior Republicans are urging [the president] to curb his rhetoric on climate change ahead of next year’s election, as evidence emerges that young Republican voters are increasingly persuaded by the science behind climate change. Republicans in Congress and party strategists have told the White House that [the president] risks losing votes if he returns to his argument that climate change is a hoax promoted by China to undermine American manufacturing. Francis Rooney, a Republican congressman from Florida, said he had brought up the issue of climate change many times with the White House [because over 70 per cent of the people in his very conservative district] think the government needs to do something about climate change…

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…[For young Republicans, climate change is ‘an issue of science’ and not the older Republicans’ cultural or ideological question, according to] Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican congressman who co-founded the House of Representatives’ climate solutions caucus in 2016…Polls suggest that the Republican leadership, which has spent much of the last few weeks campaigning against the Democrats’ ‘Green New Deal,’ is out of touch with younger Republicans’ opinions on this issue…A recent letter urging the party to prioritise clean energy and the environment was signed by 41 out of 50 state chairpeople of the College Republican group…[This is a dilemma for the president because he won the 2016 election in part by performing well in industrial states, where he promised to bring in policies such as reopening coal mines…[Some allies] believe he can be persuaded to change his mind, especially if polling begins to show he could end up losing important states next year…” click here for more

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Big New Energy Buy-In From High Big Biz Big Business Steps Up For Clean Energy, Even As Washington Stands Down

Ken Silverstein, April 1, 2019 (Forbes)

“…[Economic growth and environmental protection are no longer] at odds with one another because the levelized cost of wind has come down 60% while the levelized cost of solar has fallen 80% since 2010, often making the two the cheapest forms of energy available. Using clean energy technologies is resulting in more efficient operations as well as lower emissions and enhanced brands…[The Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), made up of such companies as Google, Facebook, Walmart, General Motors, Disney and Salesforce, is] targeting 60,000 megawatts of non-utility renewables deployments by 2025.

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The group has multiple aims, namely to lower the barriers to entry and to step up and provide market signals that companies want clean energy, irrespective of Washington’s policies…Right now, 48% of the Fortune 500 and 63% of the Fortune 100 are vowing to cut their greenhouse gases, up their use of green energy or improve their energy efficiencies…[and] corporate America signed 6,500 megawatts of renewable energy contracts in 2018… [The business community and the power sector often appear before utility regulators to advocate for transmission expansion because companies] will locate where they have access to green energy, which will be built where state regulators grant permission to build new wires…[They also are united in protecting incentives for renewables while other energy sectors receive] government support…” click here for more

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