Tag Archives: republic

Here’s the Easiest Way to Fund the Interstate Highway System: Just Restore the Damn Gas Tax

by PierresHood Posted on April 30, 2014

Mother Jones

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With a few exceptions, the interstate highway system is blissfully toll-free. That may be about to change:

With pressure mounting to avert a transportation funding crisis this summer, the Obama administration Tuesday opened the door for states to collect tolls on interstate highways to raise revenue for roadway repairs.

….The question of how to pay to repair roadways and transit systems built in the heady era of post-World War II expansion is demanding center stage this spring, with projections that traditional funding can no longer meet the need. That source, the Highway Trust Fund, relies on the 18.4-cent federal gas tax, which has eroded steadily as vehicles have become more energy efficient.

….With the trust fund about to run into the red and the current federal highway bill set to expire Sept. 30, Congress cannot — as its members often note — keep “kicking the can down the road.”

Hold on. It’s true that we’re using a bit less gasoline than in the past. But that’s not why the Highway Trust Fund is in dire shape. It’s in dire shape because the federal gas tax has been cut nearly in half since it was last changed two decades ago. In 1993 dollars, it’s now about 11 cents per gallon. If it had just kept up with inflation, highway funding would be in fine shape.

Now, there’s arguably a good reasons to allow tolls. Basically, it makes driving on interstates more of a pain in the ass, which probably means marginally less driving on interstates. And less driving is good for the planet. So if you think that making it less convenient to drive is a good idea, tolls might help.

But you know what else would cut down on driving? Gas taxes restored to 1993 levels. So what’s the point of dicking around instead with tolls and corporate tax reform and all that? The answer, of course, is Republicans, who have sworn a blood oath never to raise taxes, even if “raising” actually means “keeping them at the same level.” So instead of just bumping up the gax tax by a dime or two and then indexing it to inflation—no muss, no fuss—we’re going to play a bunch of idiotic and annoying games merely to keep our roads in decent repair.

Thanks, Republicans. I appreciate it.

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Here’s the Easiest Way to Fund the Interstate Highway System: Just Restore the Damn Gas Tax

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Anger at the Plutocracy Isn’t Strong Enough to Make a Big Difference in November

by Veta68O Posted on April 30, 2014

Mother Jones

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Greg Sargent writes today that the Democratic strategy of going after the Koch brothers isn’t about the Kochs per se, but “a gamble on what swing voters think has happened to the economy, and on the reasons struggling Americans think they aren’t getting ahead”:

Dems are making an argument about what has happened to the economy, and which party actually has a plan to do something about it. Today’s NBC/WSJ poll finds support for the general idea that the economy is not distributing gains fairly and is rigged against ordinary Americans….The Democratic case is that the all-Obamacare-all-the-time message is merely meant to mask the GOP’s lack of any actual affirmative economic agenda, and even reveals the GOP’s priorities remain to roll back any efforts by Dems to ameliorate economic insecurity.

….I don’t know if the Dem strategy will work.

I think Sargent’s skepticism is warranted. The problem is that the NBC/WSJ poll he mentions doesn’t find an awful lot of evidence for seething anger. Here are the basic results:

Those are not really huge margins. The first question in particular is one they’ve been asking for two decades, and 55-39 is a very typical result, especially during times of economic weakness.

Given this, and given the extreme difficulty of a party in power taking advantage of economic discontent, will the Democratic strategy of bludgeoning Republicans over their plutocratic leanings work? I doubt it. Specific agenda items like a higher minimum wage, health care success stories, and universal pre-K seem more likely to work. At the margins, a bit of Koch bashing and a few high-profile Wall Street indictments might help a bit too, but only as an added fillip.

Oh, and a nice, short, decisive war against some minor global bad guy would also do wonders. In October, maybe.

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Anger at the Plutocracy Isn’t Strong Enough to Make a Big Difference in November

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US Economy Tanks Completely in the First Quarter

by CharoleBlohm Posted on April 30, 2014

Mother Jones

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The economy took a huge dive in the first quarter. It grew at such a slow annualized rate, 0.1 percent, that I had to enlarge my usual FRED chart just so you could see the tiny bar on the far right. The full BEA report is here.

So what happened? Consumer expenditures actually increased reasonably well. Government consumption was about flat, which isn’t too unusual these days. But fixed investment—including housing—tanked, inventories shrank, and exports plummeted. That was enough to swamp the strong gains in consumer spending.

It’s hard to draw any positive conclusions from this. Cold weather is getting some of the blame, but I always take weather-based excuses with a big grain of salt. Basically, the economy is still really sluggish. Job growth is OK but not great and wage growth is positive but only barely. Despite that, here’s what the Wall Street Journal has to say:

The latest figures come as Federal Reserve officials conclude at two-day meeting Wednesday. The numbers aren’t likely to have a large influence on policy, given the expectations for improved growth later in the year. Officials, however, are closely monitoring inflation measures. Persistently low inflation could complicate the Fed’s decisions about how to wind down its bond-buying program this year and when to raise benchmark interest rates from near zero.

Yeesh. Crappy GDP growth, sluggish job growth, and persistently low inflation “aren’t likely to have a large influence on policy.” Then what the hell would have a large influence on policy? Needless to say, a GDP report like this is music to Republican ears, so we certainly can’t expect Congress to react in any productive way. That means the Fed is all we’ve got. But apparently we don’t have them either.

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US Economy Tanks Completely in the First Quarter

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Conflict in Crimea: Is Russia Poised to Invade Ukraine?

by GenevieveKunkel Posted on March 14, 2014

Mother Jones

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This article is being updated as news breaks. Click here for the latest.

Russia has deployed 10,000 troops to multiple locations along the Ukraine-Russia border, deepening fears that the simmering crisis in the Crimean peninsula is about to escalate into full-scale warfare. In London on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry attempted to broker a last-minute deal with Russia’s foreign minister to ratchet down the crisis, but their talks “ended inconclusively,” according to the New York Times. This weekend, voters in Crimea, an autonomous region of about 2 million in southeastern Ukraine, will vote on a referendum that would give citizens the option of asserting independence from Ukraine, or becoming part of Russia. (Remaining part of Ukraine isn’t an option.) The United States and European Union leaders have called the referendum illegal; Russia backs it. If Crimea votes to join Russia—which the Obama administration expects it to do—Russia could then use the results as justification for using force in the region. On Friday, Kerry said that Russia should respect the results of the referendum without proceeding with “back-door annexation,” which would bring international consequences. Here’s what you need to know about the current state of play. Check back frequently, since we’ll update this post as events unfold.

Western leaders are furious: On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly slammed Russia’s actions, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that if he continues intervening in Ukrainian affairs, “It will cause massive damage to Russia, both economically and politically.” She also accused Russia of breaking international law by deploying troops and warned that “the territorial integrity of Ukraine is not up for discussion.” President Obama also warned Russia that “if it continues on the path that it is on, not only us but the international community, the European Union and others will be forced to apply a cost to Russia’s violations of international law.” This week, a US Senate panel approved legislation that would impose strict sanctions—including freezing assets and denying visas—on Russians and anyone else involved in undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty. Those sanctions could be enacted as early as Monday, if Crimea chooses to secede.

If Crimea joins Russia, it could take Ukrainian gas and oil reserves with it: Russian exports account for about one-third of Europe’s gas consumption and those pipelines run smack through Ukraine. As Mother Jones‘ James West points out, “Russia has long been able to use Ukraine as an energy choke point.” On Thursday, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported that authorities in Crimea have been securing offshore gas and oil in the region. Crimean parliamentary speaker Vladimir Konstantinov reportedly said: “These deposits and the platform fully become the property of the Republic of Crimea…We have guarded them. These are our fields and we will fight for them.”

Putin is cracking down on Russian press: Julia Ioffe reports in The New Republic:

What began just days before the Olympics with a Kremlin attack on Dozhd, the last independent television station in Russia, has now extended to Lenta.ru, arguably the best news site in Russia. On Wednesday, the site’s editor-in-chief was fired and replaced with a Kremlin loyalist, and the whole staff quit in protest. Yesterday, the Kremlin went full-China on the Internet, the holy of holies of the Russian opposition. Using some flimsy legal pretexts, it banned access to various oppositional news sites, to the website of Moscow’s biggest radio station, and to the blog of Alexey Navalny, who is currently under house arrest.

Russia maintains that it’s not going to invade: Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is not planning to annex Crimea and he would leave it up to citizens in the region to determine their future. He also said force would only be used as “a last resort.”â&#128;&#139; As recently as Friday, Russian officials have maintained that an invasion is still off the table:

But Western leaders aren’t optimistic that Putin will back down from annexing Crimea, after the referendum vote. According to the New York Times, “As of Friday, there had been no sign that President Vladimir V. Putin was prepared to take the ‘off ramp’ that the Obama administration has repeatedly offered.â&#128;&#139;” Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov declared on Friday that Russia and the United States “have no common vision” about the crisis.

UPDATE, March 14, 2014, 3:00 PM EDT: The Pentagon is sending 25,000 ready-to-eat meals to Ukraine, according to the Associated Press. Two US representatives have asked President Obama to put names of Russian officials responsible for human rights abuses on the Magnitsky list, a public list of Russians created in 2012 as part of the Magnitsky Act, to punish Russian officials who have committed human rights violations. Members of the list are prohibited from entering the US or using the US banking system.

UPDATE 2, March 14, 2014, 3:35 PM EDT: Mimicking the language used to justify their invasion of Crimea, the Russian foreign ministry has issued a warning that they reserve the right to intervene in the city of Donetsk to protect lives after a series of clashes Thursday night led to at least one death and dozens of injuries.

Donetsk is a primarily Russian-speaking city in eastern Ukraine, not far from the Russian border. The clashes began yesterday after hundreds of demonstrators chanting Pro-Russian slogans broke through a police cordon and stormed a separate group protesting Russia’s invasion of Crimea and calling for “a united Ukraine.”

Here’s video of the incident heating up:

UPDATE 3, March 14, 2014, 8:06 PM EDT: Another two people were reportedly killed and five injured during clashes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv Friday. There have been conflicting reports over who was injured and who was responsible for the attack, but many are alleging armed pro-Russian groups or the Ukrainian nationalist group Right Sector may have provoked the attack.

Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second largest city after Kiev, and historically, was the country’s first Soviet capital. Like Donetsk, it’s also close to the Russian border. As a result, large pro-Russian rallies have been common, which some are predicting could become a litmus test for the future direction of the country.

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Conflict in Crimea: Is Russia Poised to Invade Ukraine?

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Chained CPI Was Never Going to Happen, And Now It’s Still Never Going to Happen

by SheilaGellert Posted on February 21, 2014

Mother Jones

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Chained CPI is the dog that didn’t bark. President Obama’s latest budget proposal doesn’t include a switch to chained CPI, and this absence has put chained CPI back in the news. Does that make sense?

Probably not. In any case, you probably don’t care much about what chained CPI really is. I’m sure I’ve written up a technical explanation in the past, but I’m too lazy to—oh hell. Hold on. Here it is if you’re interested. Or you can just google it. Long story short, it slightly reduces the way we calculate inflation. And since Social Security benefits are indexed to inflation, it would slightly reduce future Social Security payouts.

Obama has proposed in the past that we adopt chained CPI. On its own, this is a terrible idea. However, under certain circumstances, it might be a good thing. At a minimum, those circumstances are threefold: (1) There would be some kind of adjustment to prevent low-income retirees from taking a hit. (2) It’s part of some broader deal on Social Security. (3) It’s adopted everywhere, including in the tax code, where it would raise taxes slightly by slowing down the inflation indexing of tax brackets. Hey, if it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander. Chained CPI is either more accurate or it’s not, and if it is, then we should use it everywhere.

If these circumstances were met, I’d have a certain amount of sympathy for switching to chained CPI beyond the purely wonkish consensus that it’s a more accurate measure. One reason is that it forces everyone to put their money where their mouths are. And by “everyone” I mean today’s retirees. You see, one of the things that pisses me off about discussions of Social Security is that it’s always future retirees who are supposed to take one for the team. We’re supposed to believe that Social Security is in crisis mode, a true threat to the republic, and therefore we have to cut benefits. But look. If this is really such a huge crisis, then we should all pitch in to save Social Security, including current retirees. If current retirees think their existing benefits are too generous, then they should support cutting them. If they don’t think that, then why should they get to keep their current benefits but cut them for future retirees?

They shouldn’t. Either benefits are too high or they aren’t. And one of the features of chained CPI is that it would have a small but immediate effect on benefits, cutting future COLA increases slightly every year. If that’s acceptable to current retirees, then I figure I can accept a cut too. If not, then I want the same benefits they’re getting. Deal?

In any case, none of this matters, because Republicans have never shown the slightest willingness to cut a broader deal. They want chained CPI, but they want it only for future retirees and they want it only for Social Security. They are willing to make precisely zero concessions in return for this. So as Jonathan Chait points out, it really doesn’t matter if Obama includes chained CPI in his budget proposal:

In reality, the fundamentals of the situation have not changed at all. Last year, Obama was willing to adopt C-CPI in return for concessions Republicans would never, ever make. This year, Obama is still willing to adopt C-CPI in return for concessions Republicans would never, ever make. Putting the compromise in his budget was merely Obama’s way of locating the blame for the reality that Republicans in Congress will never, ever, ever strike a fiscal deal with him. The disappointed deficit scolds sitting just to Obama’s right, and the joyous progressives just to his left, are committing the same fallacy. They are mistaking a step premised on an impossibility for a semblance of reality.

One thing I’m curious about in an academic sort of way is whether Obama ever really truly supported chained CPI. He’s enough of a wonk that he might have. Or, it might merely have been a bargaining chip that he knew would never go anywhere. We’ll probably never know.

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Chained CPI Was Never Going to Happen, And Now It’s Still Never Going to Happen

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We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for February 21, 2014

by NereidaMcneal Posted on February 21, 2014

Mother Jones

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Marines shoulder-carry a boat to water during an amphibious operations familiarization drill as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2014 at Hat Yao beach, Rayong, Kingdom of Thailand, Feb. 12, 2014. Cobra Gold, in its 33rd iteration, demonstrates the U.S. and the Kingdom of Thailand’s commitment to our long-standing alliance and regional partnership, prosperity and security in the Asia-Pacific region. The drills were completed by the joint efforts of Royal Thai Marines with Reconnaissance Battalion and U.S. Marines with 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force and the Republic of Korea Marines with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Matthew Troyer/Released)

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We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for February 21, 2014

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Phantogram’s Confident Second Act

by Mitchel5445 Posted on February 17, 2014

Mother Jones

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Phantogram
Voices
Republic Records

Phantogram has long played a particularly unique form of warm, experimental pop. Their music teems with buzzing synthesizers, shoegaze guitars, and singer/keyboardist Sarah Barthel’s beautiful vocals all coalescing in front of a driving hip-hop drum beat. On Voices—their second LP and their first since 2009’s Eyelid Movies—that sound is even more prominent, with Barthel and guitarist Josh Carter confidently harnessing and perfecting their material with a crowd in mind.

“We didn’t even have an audience at first. We were just trying to make music that we really wanted to hear,” Carter explained. “The same goes for Voices, but we knew that we had more of a platform and we were going to be performing things live.” As a result, there are some real scorchers on this record. “Black Out Days,” “The Day You Died,” and “Celebrating Nothing” are all huge songs well-suited for the year’s festival circuit. I can speak from experience. When they performed at the Treasure Island Music Festival back in October, they had the entire crowd in the palm of their hands—even as some of that crowd held up and danced under a sea of artsy, luminescent jellyfish.

Though surreal, this fusion of art and sound made perfect sense. At their core, Phantogram is a strikingly visual band. As Barthel’s voice resonates overtop Carter’s echoed guitars, the listener is constantly hit with a cinematic sense of space. Electronic textures and ambience are the norm here. Slower ballad “Bill Murray” is a perfect example. “We were talking about what songs reminded us of,” says Carter. “We kept going back to that scene in Rushmore where Bill Murray jumps off the diving board and just sits on the bottom of the pool. So we were like let’s just name it Bill Murray.”

Though the band is convinced they’d make the same music anywhere, some of that sense of space might be owed to the band’s humble origins. Started in Sarasota Springs, New York, they were afforded the opportunity to use a family barn for practice space—an act they continue to this day. According to the band, this laid-back location helps focus their writing by blocking out all the distractions. “Being in the country—there’s a certain beauty that caters to creating.” He explains, “When we started writing for Voices, we were in a very small rehearsal space and were surrounded by several other bands who were playing all the time. We just couldn’t really think. You had like John Bonham on one side and John Paul Jones on the other side practicing bass.”

Even in his speech, you can hear the band’s musical depth. The two listen to everything from Prince to the Cocteau Twins. Carter grew up surrounded by guitarists, pianos, and albums from groups ranging from Pavement to the Beastie Boys to John Frusciante. “When I first started playing guitar, I got really into Frusciante albums when he was all strung out on heroin. I really loved his style of playing, and the gut-wrenching honesty behind his music. He had this real passion and desperation,” he explains. “But I’d say my first love for music that I chose myself was hip-hop. My first two albums were Fear of a Black Planet and License to Ill.”

Voices is a product of this diverse range of influences, but with a sound distinctly all its own, and—considering the growing festival and promotional spots—released at exactly the right time. The band is eventually planning a collaborative record with Outkast’s Big Boi. If Phantogram’s merging of pop, hip-hop, and psych is any indication, the trio should get along perfectly. “We’ve gone from being the band on a bill of a festival that says “and many more” to the smallest band written on the festival bill to constantly graduating up in the lineup. We have a very loyal, cool, fan base, and we just love to play live shows.”

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Phantogram’s Confident Second Act

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How Bill Gates is Helping KFC Take Over Africa

by k8qxuani Posted on January 10, 2014

Mother Jones

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There are currently more than 750 KFCs in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost all are in South Africa, where they sell as much as 10 percent of the nation’s commercially grown chickens. Now the chain’s parent company, Yum Brands (“the defining global company that feeds the world”), is in the midst of a major expansion northward, with plans to sell drumsticks in Senegal, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

KFC’s target is Africa’s surging middle class, which is expanding both in numbers and weight. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, poultry consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase 270 percent over its 2000 levels by 2030. Much of this growth is being fueled by urban, middle-class consumers who have embraced fast food, which often costs more than street food or other local fare, as a status symbol.

Yet the Colonel isn’t venturing into to Africa alone. He’s getting a boost from the US government and Gates Foundation—all in the name of food security and helping Africa’s small farmers.

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How Bill Gates is Helping KFC Take Over Africa

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7 Simple Tips for Guilt-Free Holiday Shopping

by LouveniaMark Posted on December 9, 2013

Mother Jones

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Last month, I reported on the “sumangali girls” in India, workers who are lured to textile factories on the promise that they will earn enough money for a dowry or higher education—but instead end up working long hours for little pay in exploitative conditions.

Since the story came out, many readers have asked how they can support fair labor with their purchases. Unfortunately, there’s not one easy answer. As NPR’s new Planet Money series illustrates, tracing a T-shirt from cotton field to store shelf is complicated business. But consumers can help. Here are seven tips to keep in your pocket during your holiday shopping:

1. Check the label.

For clothing that is not made in the United States, check out Fair Trade USA, a certification group that evaluates all parts of companies’ supply chains. Between March 2010 and June 2012, only four out of 55 factories in 23 countries it considered were immediately certified. Today, the group certifies certain products made by these five companies. Social Accountability International is another good resource for which factories have undergone auditing. Some individual companies (like H&M) post some information about the factories they buy from online.

Another approach: Buy only clothes made in the United States, where labor laws are comparatively strong. As Mac McClelland reports, building an entire wardrobe out of made-in the-USA labels can be tough. But don’t give up: Here is a list of stores to get you started.

And if you do decide to go the made-in the USA route, here’s something to keep in mind: In order to earn a USA label, “all or virtually all” of a product must be produced here, according to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements. However, garments made of fabric sewn in the United States are allowed to have a USA label “regardless of where materials earlier in the manufacturing process (for example, the yarn and fiber) came from.” So it’s possible that cotton production and spinning for your skinny jeans’ denim, for example, could take place in India, but the jeans would still earn a USA label.

2. Buy used clothes.

Cheon Fong Liew/Flickr

At $15 a pair, your leopard-print pumps can fall apart after you wear them once—and you’ll still be able to replace them without breaking the bank. As Elizabeth Cline noted in her book, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Americans are “buying and hoarding roughly 20 billion garments per year.” Keeping prices low encourages suppliers to drive their costs down abroad, so one way to beat the cycle is to reuse what’s already out there by shopping at thrift stores, consignment shops, and online resale sites. Buffalo Exchange, eBay, and Bib+Tuck are good options. (Goodwill has been criticized in Forbes and NBC News for paying disabled workers below minimum wage, so check with your local store.)

3. Support small clothing companies that don’t allow exploitation in their factories.

Look for companies that build fair labor into their business models. Alta Gracia, for example, makes its clothes in the Dominican Republic, but pays three times the local minimum wage and allows workers to unionize. San Francisco-based Everlane publishes information about its factories, providing full reports on each one with photos and owners’ names. Its prices are comparable to those of chains like Urban Outfitters and the GAP.

For other fair labor options, check out Prana, Maggie’s Organics, Good & Fair, Honest by, Modavanti, and Zady.

4. Support big clothing companies making progress.

Wikimedia

Sometimes, US companies respond to consumer boycotts by pulling out of a region entirely, leaving local workers without any jobs at all. So instead of boycotting, consider buying from companies whose social responsibility initiatives you believe in. H&M, for example, offers discounts to shoppers who recycle their clothing at its stores. Levi Strauss & Co. gives money to Social Awareness and Voluntary Education,â&#128;&#139; which provides rehabilitation for sumangali workers in India. Eileen Fisher manufactures 10-20 percent of its products domestically and conducts mandatory anti-trafficking trainings for managers and workers at its Chinese factories.

5. Support companies that are making their factories safer.

Shariful Islam/Xinhua/Zuma

Last April, Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,000 garments workers, many of whom were reportedly making clothing for US companies. Following that incident, more than 100 garment companies signed a legally binding agreement requiring the signatories to share the costs of safety upgrades in more than 1000 factories over the next five years. To see a list of which companies have signed, click here.

Since 2011, more than 100 companies have pledged not to source cotton from Uzbekistan, where child labor and slavery are widespread in the industry.

6. Read independent apparel industry reports.

Free2Work

In 2012, the anti-trafficking organization Free2Work released a comprehensive report comparing US clothing companies’ labor practices. The Fair Labor Association regularly publishes reports on garment factory conditions around the world, as does Anti-Slavery International and the Clean Clothes Campaign. These organizations send researchers to conduct independent interviewers with workers on the ground, providing a more complete picture of the industry.

7. Ask yourself: Do I really need this?

BuzzFeed/YouTube

Because a lot of the time, that new T-shirt simply isn’t worth it.

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7 Simple Tips for Guilt-Free Holiday Shopping

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Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona

by Joan Ames Posted on October 22, 2013

Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona

By

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A battle between the solar-panel industry and a major utility in Arizona is heating up.

The fight is over net-metering rules, which require utilities to purchase excess electricity produced by solar panel–owning customers. Hearings to consider proposed rule changes are scheduled for next month.

A lot of money is at stake — for Arizona Public Service Co., the utility pushing the proposed rule changes, and also for solar installers and solar-panel owners.

APS wants to slash its payments to each solar-panel owner by between $50 and $100 a month. It says the payments are a burden on customers who don’t own solar panels. The solar industry, meanwhile, is saying the proposed changes would cripple its growth.

The Arizona Republic paints a picture of a utility desperate to sully solar’s reputation as it seeks to build support for its proposal:

As part of its strategy, Arizona Public Service Co. sent cash to two non-profit groups that support the utility’s goal to make solar customers pay higher bills. …

APS’ marketing campaign includes its own television ads explaining its commitment to solar. The cash sent to the two non-profits is helping to pay for ads and websites that use a more negative tone toward the solar industry. …

APS recently acknowledged to The Arizona Republic that it provided money to a Washington, D.C.-based conservative organization called 60 Plus, which focuses on seniors’ issues such as taxes, Social Security and Medicare.

It also gave money to another non-profit called Prosper, which was launched this year by Republican Kirk Adams, a former Arizona House speaker. …

60 Plus began criticizing SolarCity and Sunrun, comparing them with Solyndra, the California solar company that took more than $500 million in federal assistance and then filed for bankruptcy.

Soon after, Prosper joined the debate on the side of APS. Prosper has been running television commercials calling for changes to net metering.

The solar industry is responding with its own campaign, which claims the utility’s proposal would “tax the sun.” The industry founded TUSK, or “Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed,” which has been criticizing APS and its proposal to change net-metering rules.

How far will APS go to get its way? A clue comes to us from another story in The Arizona Republic, which reveals that a plan was developed four years ago to engineer false controversies to wreck the reputations of members of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates the utility:

The plan proposed that APS fund a $4.3 million campaign using out-of-state non-profit groups to generate “fake controversies” regarding the Arizona Corporation Commission. Those controversies could sway voters and lead them to elect new regulators, the plan suggested, or could influence legislators to add additional seats on the commission.

The plan, titled “The Institute for Energy Policy,” was drafted by Lincoln Strategy Group, a Tempe-based political-consulting firm. It was presented to the utility’s chief executive soon after a contentious APS rate-increase case was settled by the commission, which regulates rates for most of the state’s utilities.

APS officials said the utility did not solicit the 20-page plan, which was obtained recently by The Arizona Republic. A company official called it “absurd.” Don Brandt, company chief executive, said he “immediately dismissed” the proposal in 2009.

After the report was presented, however, APS hired one of the two Lincoln Strategy employees who pitched the report to Brandt. She now serves as the utility’s top lobbyist. The other executive who pitched the report also left Lincoln Strategy and is being paid by APS as an outside consultant.

“On its face it appears to be a very difficult goal to completely eliminate the (Arizona Corporation Commission), and a more long-term approach is suggested,” the plan stated. “We would propose using calendar years 2009 through 2011 to … begin to sway public opinion against the (commission) and use 2012 to implement the electoral strategy.” …

Some strategies described in the 2009 plan from Lincoln Strategy appear similar to those in APS’ current media campaign over solar.

As the Arizona Corporation Commission still hasn’t been eliminated, it plans to hold hearings on APS’s net-metering proposal in November. We’ll let you know what happens.

See also: Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities — and more in our series on utilities and clean power


Source
APS lobbyist pitched plan to alter energy panel, Arizona Republic
APS, solar companies clash over credits to customers, Arizona Republic

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona

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