Republican Gov. Pat McCrory endorsed solar energy — and the incentive policies that support solar and other renewables
WILLOW SPRING – Republican Gov. Pat McCrory endorsed solar energy – and the incentive policies that support solar and other renewables – in a public show of support for programs that some lawmakers in his own party have vowed to dismantle.
McCrory stood before a solar farm recently built in Wake County on Tuesday and said he was “speaking to the choir” about the importance of the solar industry to North Carolina’s economy and environment.
The governor, a former employee of Duke Energy, then declared June to be Solar Energy Month, and he noted that North Carolina is ranked as the fifth-largest solar developer in the country. McCrory spoke to representatives of environmentalist organizations and the solar industry who in recent months have been scrambling to salvage state environmental policies that have been targeted for rollback by conservative critics in the legislature.
“We think the energy business, alongside with agriculture, will help North Carolina get out of this recession,” McCrory said.
McCrory was careful to emphasize that he supports an “all of the above” approach to energy development, including shale gas exploration, offshore drilling and offshore wind farms. But he has also taken the position that diversified energy resources are complementary, not mutually exclusive.
McCrory chose the 5-megawatt Fuquay Farm in Willow Spring, built this year by Chapel Hill-based Strata Solar, as the backdrop for Tuesday’s photo opportunity. He said he has had friendly meetings with officials from three solar developers – Strata Solar, Southern Energy Management in Morrisville, and FLS Energy in Asheville.
Strata Solar CEO Markus Wilhelm, who counts his company among the largest solar developers in the nation, said North Carolina’s solar renaissance is “something that only happened because the state’s been very supportive of renewable energy.”
Wilhelm embraced McCrory as “a friend of our industry” for supporting those policies.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/04/2939198/gov-pat-mccrory-embraces-solar.html#storylink=cpy
