Just Because You’re a Member of the Far Right Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Believe in the Importance of Solar Energy

They’ve been called an “unholy alliance” and “strange bedfellows,” and it’s partly true: Debbie Dooley, a Tea Party firebrand, is solar power’s most unlikely ally.
A lifetime campaign operative for the Republican Party and an organizer of the first nationwide Tea Party protests in 2009, Dooley is making some very persuasive arguments for why conservatives should support renewable energy. She’s reached across the aisle to form the Green Tea Coalition, breaking with Republican candidates she says are in the energy sector’s pocket. By teaming up with progressive groups like the Sierra Club, Dooley is taking on a utility and fighting to bring solar power to the Sunshine State.
Dooley’s reasons for selecting clean energy as her pet project may sound somewhat trite — her baby grandson became an in-the-flesh reminder of the urgent necessity of conserving the planet for future generations — but her reason for supporting solar power is fresh. Unlike liberals who tout the environmental benefits of solar’s clean technology, Dooley makes her argument based on Tea Party mainstays like free market economics and self-sufficiency.
A New Orleans native and a preacher’s daughter, Dooley’s always been involved in politics, usually of the right-wing brand. Fifty miles north of The Big Easy, her grandfather ran a popular gas station and became well-known in political circles as a “power broker,” she says. “When someone ran for political office, they always paid him a visit.” Dooley spent much of her childhood at political events, accompanying him to rallies and town hall meetings.
She got involved in her first serious campaign as a high school senior in Montgomery, Ala., staffing the phone bank and canvassing door-to-door during Ronald Reagan’s first attempt at the presidency. When she moved to Georgia at the tail end of George H.W. Bush’s presidency, she became an active member of the state’s Republican party.
But it’s policy, not party, that matters to Dooley. She’s unafraid to call out politicians on both sides when they shy away from their principles. Her interest in founding the Tea Party — when the “teapot started boiling,” she says — was prompted by disappointment with President George W. Bush’s policies, particularly the Wall Street bailouts. “I began to feel like the Republican Party had lost its way. They began to be the party of big spenders,” she explains. She co-founded of the Atlanta Tea Party, and she’s still on the board of directors for the national Tea Party Patriots.
“Debbie is somebody that has a lot of integrity in the positions that she takes,” says Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), a nonpartisan energy watchdog group, since 1993. “She will point out inconsistencies where there are conservatives that are on the financial take from utilities and fossil fuel companies. Debbie is an absolute watchdog on the political right when conservatives start taking positions that aren’t true to conservative values.”
In 2012, Dooley won her first victories for solar power before the Georgia Public Service Commission, the regulatory authority for the energy utility. Competition is virtually nonexistent in the utility business because there’s no need to construct multiple overlapping grids (a neighborhood only needs one set of power lines), and shakeups are rare. To ensure there’s no blackouts and that customers get a fair price, utilities are monitored — and often protected — by government. In Georgia, the state had a number of laws on the books that stifled better technology. Essentially, “If I purchase electricity, I must purchase it from this government-created monopoly,” Dooley explains. She promised that expanding access to solar would create “competition and choice,” two values that persuaded the commission to open the market.
In Florida, Dooley faces a similar battle, but against an even stronger opponent. Florida Power & Light has huge influence over legislators, killing some bills before they ever reach the floor for a debate and, along with three other utilities, spending $12 million on Florida’s legislative races since 2010. The Sunshine State is one of only five states that forces consumers to buy electricity from a utility, meaning a resident can’t install a solar array and sell the excess power to neighbors or lease panels from a solar company to reduce up-front costs. That power — Dooley calls it “corruption” — is why she’s asking voters to pass a constitutional amendment tearing down barriers to supplying local solar power. (NationSwell reached out to Florida Power & Light for comment, but did not receive a response.)
“It shall be the policy of the state to encourage and promote local small-scale solar-generated electricity production and to enhance the availability of solar power to customers,” the measure reads. “This section is intended to accomplish this purpose by limiting and preventing regulatory and economic barriers that discourage the supply of electricity generated from solar.”
In an early telephone poll of 600 registered voters in Florida (commissioned by SACE and executed by North Star Opinion Research), nearly three quarters of voters said they would support a proposal to amend the current law to allow solar companies to install panels at no up-front cost and sell the power to the resident. More than half — 54 percent — believed their average monthly electricity bill was too high.
Dooley’s “been a very strong voice from the beginning. She recognized the tremendous national significance of opening the Sunshine State to solar. There, the utilities have an absolute stranglehold on the market. It has enormous potential but it continues to underperform,” says Smith, who also serves on the board of Floridians for Solar Choice. “There’s a lot of issues that Debbie and I disagree on, but on opening markets for solar power, we’re in lockstep. There’s no daylight between our positions there.”
Her campaign has already collected over 100,000 signatures in the first five weeks, Dooley says, but it needs several hundred thousand more to qualify for the election and the Florida Supreme Court’s approval of the ballot text, which the utility has promised to challenge.
Dooley couldn’t have chosen a better proving ground to test her ideas. The fourth largest state, Florida has a huge energy market powering homes for 19.9 million residents. But unlike other massive states — California, New York and Texas — Florida is a swing state. Her proposition will likely appear on the November 2016 ballot, downticket from the race that will decide Obama’s successor. If she’s successful, the Sunshine State’s expansion of solar power would be a beacon of bipartisan unity, potentially igniting a movement across the nation.
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7 Things Every Protester Needs to Know

Taking to the streets in protest — bullhorns or banner in hand — is an American tradition. Whether marching for the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street, each demonstration has added to the history of free speech and assembly that began in the Boston Harbor in 1773 and continues today with protests taking off across the country in response to grand jury decisions on Staten Island, N.Y. and in Ferguson, Mo.
Peaceful protest is a right that’s broadly protected by the First Amendment, but recent events serve as a tangible reminder of the difference between protest and riot — one democratic and productive, the other anarchic and devastating. Here, some key tips that every protester should keep in mind before taking to the streets.

1. Know your rights.

Thanks to the Bill of Rights, you have the right to gather and peacefully protest. You don’t need a permit to protest in a public space like a park, sidewalk, street or plaza, the American Civil Liberties Union reminds activists. However, law enforcement may limit a person from protesting on private property (like an abortion clinic or power plant) unless its owner gives their consent. You’re also allowed to pass out pamphlets, as long as pedestrians are free to pass by without being “physically and maliciously detained” and no building entrances are blocked, the ACLU says.
Additionally, “you never have to consent to a search of yourself or your belongings,” the group adds. An officer may pat you down to search for a weapon or search your belongings if you are under arrest, but otherwise a warrant is required.
If you witness someone else being arrested, don’t interfere or threaten the officer. That will only escalate the conflict and could land you in a pair of handcuffs, charged with obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct or interference with an arrest. Instead, write down the officer’s badge number and photograph or videotape the incident to document any misconduct. (You have the right to photograph anything “in plain view” from a public space, according to the ACLU.) Police officers may not confiscate or delete anything from your camera, nor can they demand to see your images without a warrant. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) offers the free Stop and Frisk Watch app for both iPhone and Android that allows bystanders to document an arrest with video or a written survey that is immediately sent to NYCLU’s offices.

In Oakland, Calif., a man sits in the street after being blocked by a line of police officers following a New York grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, Dec. 4, 2014.

2. Realize when you’re on the wrong side of the law.

Legally, an officer can arrest you for not following orders. If you are asked to keep clear of a certain area, for example, it’s in your best interest to cooperate with the order — even though you may legally have a right to be there. You won’t find out if you were correct until you’re before a judge.
That’s not to say that civil disobedience — for refusing to get up from a sit-in at an intersection or disobeying a command — is not a powerful symbol. But you need to be aware that you could be putting yourself in danger.
“We go into a protest knowing that there is a chance that we will get arrested, tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, or billy clubbed,” says a protest guide written by students at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. “This isn’t to be dramatic, but realistic. Fear will make the streets anxious and we probably won’t accomplish much.” In case of a confrontation with riot police, you may want to carry a plastic bag with bandanas soaked in vinegar or lemon juice to neutralize tear gas, the guide suggests. Don’t rub your eyes or panic, it adds; instead, rinse your eyes with water until the burning passes.

3. Have a backup plan.

During the Occupy Wall Street protests, Brooklyn software designer Jason Van Anden developed a free phone app called I’m Getting Arrested, which sends a prewritten text message to friends and family if, you guessed it, the cops are threatening you with arrest. The app, which was named by PC Magazine as a top app of 2011, is only available to Android users. (Due to Apple policy, the app won’t function on iPhones.)
Once you’re in a jail cell, you won’t be allowed to use your cell, so make sure to take other precautions. Write the number for a pro bono attorney on your arm and on a piece of paper so you can call once you are at the precinct. Take advantage of your Miranda rights to know the charges against you, to speak to your attorney or have one appointed and to appear before a judge to ask for your release until the trial.

4. Be respectful.

“Stay calm, be polite, and don’t run,” the ACLU recommends. When thousands (or more) of fed-up protesters crowd into a public space, the situation can rapidly get out-of-hand. Cops want to keep order, and sometimes a few rogue troublemakers don’t have the same intentions. Treat officers with respect, and you’ll likely receive the same treatment. Most importantly, never physically resist an arrest.

5. Come prepared with supplies.

Protests are all about making your voice heard. Drawing a quick sign on poster board or printing out a slogan from your computer can amplify your message. Whistles, pots and pans, drums, tin cans, sticks, a megaphone or even coins in an empty bottle will all help you literally increase your volume. Wear shoes you can walk in, comfortable layers of clothes and sunscreen. Avoid items that could be interpreted as a weapon, like a Swiss army knife or any blunt object, and leave all alcohol and drugs at home.

6. Find fellow activists on social media.

Twitter and Facebook are now the places where movements coalesce. Over the past month, hashtags like #EricGarner, #BlackLivesMatter and #ICantBreathe proliferated across the web, accompanied by calls for demonstrations. Those tweets organized like-minded activists to meet at New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza in an effort to shut down the annual Christmas tree lighting and to clutter the floors of Grand Central Terminal with a “mass grave” of bodies within a few quick hours.
Be sure to tweet your whereabouts and why you’re out. After all, there’s no use holding a demonstration if no one hears you. “You can see that it’s not just five people standing in Times Square — it’s people marching throughout the city,” Marcus Messner, a journalism professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, tells the Wall Street Journal. “The immediate visuals we’re seeing on Twitter and Instagram help people overcome that barrier to getting out and protesting.”
If there’s action rising up at multiple spots across a city, stick to one trusted source for location information or you may find yourself fruitlessly chasing different marches.

Sophia Smith (C) of Oakland chants with a crowd of protesters, in Oakland, Calif., Dec. 4, 2014.

7. Channel the momentum.

The weeks after a protest can feel like a letdown. Nothing’s changed, you might say, but remember that social progress moves at a glacial pace. (Case in point: Seven decades passed between the convention in Seneca Falls and the day women finally gained the right to vote.) Maintain your involvement through letter writing campaigns or boycotts; study the cause you’re fighting for. And keep marching.