Outside the beltway, Trump supporters are split over energy policy, too. The president received strong support from coal-rich regions of West Virginia, Wyoming and Kentucky. Yet recent polls have indicated Trump voters also back renewables, especially in windy states like Iowa and Texas.
While wind and solar were the province of liberal environmentalists, conservatives have increasingly begun to see clean energy as way to weaken the power of monopolistic utility companies and bolster America’s energy independence. It doesn’t hurt that wind and solar employ almost 475,000 people in the U.S., almost three times as many as coal.
“These are conservative values: jobs, energy freedom, choice, personal liberty,” Dooley said. “There is really a green revolution going on within the Republican party.”
Ebell doesn’t buy it. And he doesn’t see Trump backing away from his pledge to back fossil fuels.
“The president has a very definite agenda on increasing oil and gas production,” Ebell said. “Wind and solar are always going to be secondary. They are always going to be a pain in the neck.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.