Renewable energy advocates are trying to position themselves as part of President Donald Trump’s energy agenda — including working with an unorthodox messenger.
Interests tied to the solar industry collaborated with conservative commentator and podcaster Josh Hammer, who wrote a Newsweek op-ed extolling the virtues of residential solar in the name of populism and anti-corporate greed, said a person familiar with the situation granted anonymity to speak candidly.
The industry’s goal was to sway supporters of President Donald Trump — and maybe the president himself — who has repeatedly questioned the benefits of renewable energy and called for scrapping federal incentives.
“MAGA populists — and all others who prize freedom and care about the prosperity of our nation — should take a serious look at solar roofs and backup batteries,” Hammer writes in the Feb. 5 piece. “I happen to know a number of prominent conservatives who have already embraced solar to get off the grid.”
