Renewable Energy Investors Influence Republican Primaries

A political action committee (PAC) representing wind and solar energy interests has taken significant steps in influencing Republican primary races. Recently, they spent $1.1 million to support the Republican primary opponent of Chip Roy, a noted critic of renewable energy, and succeeded in doing so.

In Texas, a group of investors in clean energy celebrated their victory this week after investing over $1 million to facilitate the defeat of Chip Roy, who has been one of the nation’s most vocal opponents of renewables. The investors’ coalition now possesses $15 million and aims to leverage this influence on a national scale by backing Republicans who support clean energy sources like wind and solar power.

“We are working to establish a pro-clean-energy majority in Congress, irrespective of political affiliation,” stated Thomas Matzzie, leading the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC. This group receives its funding from renewable energy developers and philanthropists and has major financial backing from Chris Larsen, a billionaire and co-founder of the cryptocurrency platform Ripple.

On Thursday, the group expressed satisfaction as Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, lost his bid in a runoff for a position in the state’s primary for attorney general. Previously, Roy had spearheaded efforts to revoke manufacturing tax credits designed for the production of wind, solar, electric vehicles, and other clean energy resources, introduced during the Biden administration.

Mayes Middleton, a conservative state senator who emerged victorious in the primary, criticized Roy for not showcasing strong allegiance to former President Trump. The clean energy coalition reinforced this narrative by investing $1.1 million in advertisements that highlighted Roy’s conflicts with Trump, suggesting that he was “not MAGA enough for Texas.”