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-Updated 01/24/2023 – The Detroit Free Press reports that a group called Citizens for Local Choice is attacking Michigan’s wind power projects. The Bridge says the group is an offshoot of Our Home, Our Voice. Leadership includes Kevon Martis, a Lenawee County commissioner and fellow with the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, a conservative think tank that opposes renewable energy. The group was incorporated in Michigan in Feb. 2023. 

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Offshore wind power development in the Great Lakes region has potential. With its 3,288 miles of shorelines along four of the five Great Lakes, Michigan could emerge as a leader in the green energy market. The consistent winds across the Great Lakes offer the opportunity to power offshore wind turbines. They could generate over 570 Gigawatts of green energy. Michigan could become a net exporter of green energy to the rest of the country. Estimates from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggest that offshore power could generate over 18 times Michigan’s annual needs. Despite the abundant natural resources and potential economic benefits, no commercial wind turbines have been installed. Why is that?

Policymakers are Afraid of Wind Power

Doug Bessette is a professor of community sustainability at Michigan State University. He studies the acceptance of renewables. The Professor told Public News Service Michigan is no closer to ramping up the technology than it was 10 years ago. Mr. Bassest continued,

“I think a lot of policymakers are hesitant to get offshore wind attached to their name because it’s such a controversial technology. I think people are afraid to push it forward.”

Why is off-shore wind power controversial? The Climate and Development Lab (CDL) at Brown University may have one answer: Greed. In Against the Wind: A Map of the Anti-Offshore Wind Network in the Eastern United States, the CDL studied the opposition to offshore wind power and found some familiar names.

Dark Money

Dark money is a term that refers to political spending by groups that do not disclose their donors. This makes it difficult to trace the source and influence of their money. Dark money affects democracy in several ways.

• The Center for Public Integrity says dark money undermines the political system’s accountability and transparency. Voters do not know who is trying to influence them or what their motives are.
• The Brennan Center for Justice maintains dark money creates an imbalance of power and representation. Wealthy and powerful interests can spend unlimited amounts of money to sway elections and policies in their favor, often at the expense of the public interest.

Dark money undermines the accountability and transparency of the democratic process since voters do not know who is trying to influence them or their motives. The people feel that their voices and votes do not matter or that the system is rigged against them. Many agree that dark money poses a serious threat to the health and integrity of democracy.

The War Over Wind Power

According to the CDL study, the war against offshore power began 12 years ago.

The plan includes a “national professional PR campaign” to cause “subversion in message of [wind] industry so that it effectively becomes so bad no one wants to admit in public
they are for it (much like wind has done to coal, by turning green to black and clean to dirty).” This campaign “must appear as a ‘groundswell’ among grass roots.” The tactics delineated in this memo include trainings for local anti-OSW groups, coordinated messaging and advertisements, and collaborations with other interest groups such as traditional environmentalists, the Tea Party, and property rights organizations.

Dark Money Networks

The report includes familiar names. The CDL “identified six major fossil fuel and dark money donors—the Charles Koch Foundation, the Charles Koch Institute, DonorsTrust, the State Policy Network State Policy Network, a key national player in right-wing politics and the climate change counter-movement, and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association—that fund 17 think tanks involved in the anti-OSW network.”

The CDL states that these groups all have intimate ties to the fossil fuel industry. They point out that the Charles Koch Foundation, Charles Koch Institute, and DonorsTrust are key charitable wings of the sprawling Koch network of donors. Their activities encompass think tanks and astroturf groups that advance right-wing causes, especially obstruction to climate policy. 

The report identified another group fighting wind power – the Koch-related State Policy Network (SPN). According to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), the SPN has affiliates in all 50 states. SPN plays an integral role in ensuring legislation gets passed in state houses. SPN members attract media attention, provide academic legitimacy when called on to testify at hearings, and produce “studies” or model legislation. That legislation often comes in the form of model bills drafted by corporate lobbyists and lawmakers at SPN’s sister organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In Michigan, that includes the Mackinac Center.

Windpower Opposition in Michigan

According to the CMD, in 2021, the Mackinac Center posted revenues of $15.6 million. It is one of the largest right-wing state policy groups in the country. The CDL says the Mackinac Center, based in Midland, MI, received part of the $870,000 that SPN spent to fight off-shore wind power. The Mackinac Center has a long history of opposition to green energy, like wind power in Michigan, dating back to at least 2012. Others also report on the long-standing Koch dark money support of the Mackinac Center.

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The problem is that neither citizens nor politicians want to understand the risks of climate change. There are several reasons for this disbelief.

Many argue that even if climate change science is real, it doesn’t matter. God is going to use climate change to enact his wrath on the world. And you can’t fight God.

Another factor is the quality of the politicians creating policy. Many politicians these days focus on legislating civil and criminal laws that reflect their view of religion in political life. As we have seen, these beliefs can also lead to violence and insurrection.

Efforts to counter climate change involve significant change and sacrifice in the short run.

For these reasons, wind power on the Great Lakes remains dormant, and climate change continues progressing.

Related article

• The Retreat of Glaciers in the 21st Century (Statista)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.