How The Right and Its Fossil Fuel Enablers Undermine Renewable Energy

Here’s how the right works for the fossil fuel industry to sow doubt about renewable energy.

Last week while doing some climate crisis research I came across a disturbing headline:

“Duke Energy application points finger at solar for increased pollution”

The article was published in the North State Journal.  The North State Journal was founded by former staffers of Republican governor Pat McCrory,  It mixes lots of local news with well crafted right wing hit pieces like this article.

To start the reader is told that the article was based upon seven months of investigation and “numerous” public information request.  It generates credibility by making it sounds like a lot investigative journalism went into this story.

The article introduces a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, who appears to confirms the worst.  However, she is not actually quoted in the article.  Her comments are paraphrased and carefully crafted to make them appear far more ominous than the circumstances warrant.

Duke spokeswoman Kim Crawford confirmed that increased solar power on the state’s electric grid is increasing emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx), a dangerous air pollutant. She said that reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could also reverse if current solar growth continues without policy changes.

That’s certainly bad news for solar power.  But, wait how could solar panels be generating NOx and CO2?  They’re not. The real issue is the need to cycle fossil fuel power plants to accommodate the realities of solar power – nights and cloudy days. Restarting these fossil fuel plants can cause short term spikes in NOx in particular.  So, the problem is management of the power grid with mixed sources of power input.  At this point, the article gives a more detailed review of the mixed grid issue, but no clear idea as to the actual impact of the fossil fuel cycling.  

We’re never told that the supposedly massive work of investigation and review of public records was in reference to a publicly available applications from Duke Energy to make a minor change to the air quality permits for some natural gas fueled power plants.  It doesn’t matter, because now this “news” article is moving from facts to opinion.  An “expert” is brought in to explain that this is really bad news for solar power.

“After committing $2 billion in tax credits, and more than $1 billion in electricity overpayments for solar power, we now learn from Duke that nitrogen oxides have actually increased, and that CO2 may be headed in the wrong direction,” said Donald van der Vaart, former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and State Energy Policy Advisor in the McCrory administration.

“This should shock everyone responsible for North Carolina’s air quality, and the nation’s energy policy,” van der Vaart said.  

This sounds both credible and alarming. Except that van der Vaart’s has a reputation as a fossil fuel industry shill and a very large number of critics. Here’s one speaking of van der Vaart’s time as the chief of North Carolina’s environmental organization:

Van der Vaart is not simply a conservative who is skeptical of government environmental rules. He is a crusading ideologue who has shown a willingness to disregard scientific expertise and manipulate conclusions reached by dedicated career staff to serve his pre-determined policy preferences.

While leading the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), van der Vaart appeared bent on putting polluting interests ahead of environmental protection and children’s health. His record in North Carolina is damning.

van der Vaart’s position on such critical issues as clean air and water were so controversial that despite a strong effort from industry and the far right, he was deemed too radical to head Trump’s EPA.  He still made it onto the EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board.  He is also a senior fellow at the right wing John Locke Foundation – part of the vast web of “conservative” think tanks that led credibility to the far right’s extreme ideologies.

After quoting van der Vaart, the article moves on to give us the opinion of Dan Kish.  Kish is hardly an unbiased source regarding renewable energy as he is the senior vice president for policy at the American Energy Alliance (AEA).  The AEA is part of the fossil fuel think tank complex that owes much of its funding to the Koch brothers and their oil patch associates. Kish’s take reflects his shock as he demands that something be done about this scandal, while also suggesting that regulators are somehow influenced by shady Wall Street money.

“It’s great for the Wall Street financiers, and those in it to make a fast buck while the sun shines, but it’s leaving us with an increasingly unstable grid and externalities such as more pollution,” Kish said. “The regulators have to remember that their job is to make sure that quick buck artists don’t pick the pockets of consumers and leave them with a weaker, less resilient grid.”

The article has one more seed to plant and for that it turns to Steve Goreham from the Heartland Institute.  The Heartland Institute is one of the bedrock right wing think tanks.  They were there for Phillip Morris in the 1990s working to debunk the health hazards of smoking. They are also one of the loudest voices of denial regarding climate change.  But, Goreham knows a conspiracy when he sees one.

“Typically this kind of stuff doesn’t go public,” Goreham said. “It’s hard to get data on this.”

Sixteen paragraphs in and the article has driven home its key point that solar energy is creating more air pollution, but the author does toss in a brief suggestion that “not everyone agrees.”  His source is a six year old computer simulation which he then undermines.

That study relied on computer simulations and hypothetical scenarios, while Duke’s numbers are based on recorded data from full-scale operations.

The rest of the article works to make the situation appear to be a danger to public health and to suggest that some sort of conspiracy was in place to keep the information from the public.  

The article was published on August 14 and within days it was being reprinted or used as source material at numerous right wing websites.  Here’s a sampling of the headlines:

PROOF: ‘Renewable’ Energy Boondoggle Leads to MORE Pollution

Powerful Reality: More Solar Power Means More Air Pollution

Duke Energy application points finger at solar for increased pollution  

Duke Energy Blames Renewables for Increased Air Pollution in North Carolina

By August 19, the noise level had reached the point where Duke Energy felt compelled to make a statement.  Under the headline “Solar power causes air pollution? Wait a minute …”  Duke Energy said the following:

In North Carolina, when the word “solar” is mentioned, everyone takes a close look. It was no different recently when some media articles advanced the idea that solar power is actually causing more air pollution.

The basis for this was an air permit Duke Energy submitted for some of our gas combustion turbines that ramp up and down more since additional solar has been added to the energy grid.

But to say solar is causing more air pollution? That may be some faulty logic. It's like saying an electric vehicle is bad since it will increase your electric bill, while neglecting to mention the cost savings of not buying gasoline. There are many positive aspects of solar energy. It contributes about 5% of North Carolina’s energy needs with no greenhouse gases, and more is on the way.

So while a slight increase in emissions may occur at individual units, our fleet will continue to see an overall decrease in air emissions from this transition to solar and other cleaner energy resources.

Despite Duke Energy’s statement, this bell can’t be unrung.  This is the way the right wing noise machine works.  The article builds a one sided case for the danger of solar, while hinting at a conspiracy apparently contrived to keep this information from the public.  The real facts are buried or diminished while all of the quoted opinion is from fossil fuel advocates.  

So, when you hear that solar power causes an increase in air pollution, you’ll know that the fossil fuel funded noise machine is still functioning as designed.