A roundtable hosted by U.S. Rep. Sean Casten on Friday offered a sneak peek at strategies Illinois clean energy supporters are considering as President Donald Trump threatens to reduce funding for wind farms, solar power and electric vehicles.
Casten highlighted the rapid decline of coal in the U.S., the rise of low-cost renewable energy and consumer interest in electric cars, the fastest-growing segment of the new car market.
“I think my big request for all of us in this case is to not take the bait when the White House is saying this is an environmental question. We know it is. I’m not trivializing the massive risk to climate,” Casten said.
“But if we allow it to be framed as environmental that leads (to a zero-sum conversation). We need to make this about consumers,” he said.
The roundtable, held in Lisle, comes at a time when clean energy is in turmoil, with Trump signing an executive order freezing funding under then-President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.
Opponents say that Trump doesn’t have the constitutional authority to overturn an act of Congress, but some climate programs do appear more vulnerable than others. Among them is the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which was expected to play a key role in funding a network of EV chargers on Illinois interstates.
At the roundtable, the Sierra Club’s Illinois chapter director, Jack Darin, cited a recent poll by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication that found 43% of self-identified conservative Republicans think the country should be using more renewable energy.
“Even at this time of historic division on so many things we once thought were shared values, we’re not a divided country on clean energy and climate,” he said.
John Moore, director of the Sustainable FERC Project at the Natural Resources Defense
Council, said that climate change should not be so politically divisive.
“We will be looking for opportunities with the new administration wherever we can — I know they’re going to be fewer and farther between — but I want to make sure that transmission, which is the great enabler for so much, continues to move forward,” he said.
Building or enhancing transmission — or the high-voltage wires that carry electricity over long distances — can reduce consumer costs, in part by allowing the grid to connect to low-cost sun and wind energy. Adding transmission also allows lower-cost electricity to reach more distant areas.
Barry Matchett, head of external affairs for the Midwest and Gulf regions at Clearway Energy Group, said that even in areas that are not “ideologically predisposed” to support clean energy, he’s seen solar skeptics become project supporters.
That’s in keeping with a recent report from Climate Power, a strategic communications organization.
The report found that since the Inflation Reduction Act, companies have announced 751 new clean energy projects in the U.S., and more than half of those projects are in congressional districts represented by Republicans in the House of Representatives.
“The challenge that I see is (a) communications issue,” Matchett said. “It’s not even really finding the right words. It’s being committed to getting the message out as frequently as possible that if you leave well enough alone, we’re going to continue to grow this clean energy economy.”
