Green Tea Coalition: Strange bedfellows fight for solar power in Sunshine State
In the science fiction series "Star Trek," if matter and anti-matter ever came together, there would be a huge explosion and the universe would cease to exist. In Florida, a diverse coalition of groups will put that theory to the test, all in the name of expanding the use of solar power.
The strange bedfellows that have come together include the Tea Party, the Christian Coalition, libertarian groups and left-wing environmentalists. Their goal -- to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2016 ballot in Florida that would make solar power more widely available in the Sunshine State.
Debbie Dooley -- founder of the Atlanta Tea Party -- is leading the charge.
"Being good stewards of our environment, craving energy freedom and choice is not a leftist issue. It's not a radical right issue. It's an American issue," Dooley told Fox News.
Under current Florida law, only utilities can sell electricity to customers. Businesses and homeowners can install solar panels on their properties, but any excess electricity must be put back onto the grid.
The amendment this so-called "Green Tea Coalition" is aiming to put on the ballot would allow individuals or businesses with solar installations to sell power to tenants or neighbors. For example, if a shopping mall owner put a large solar panel array on the mall roof, they would be able to sell the electricity to the individual store tenants.
The law would also allow people to escape the big upfront costs of installing solar by ending the prohibition on leasing solar panels. Companies selling solar panels could put up an array in, say, a hotel parking lot, then lease the panels to the hotel for less than the cost of comparable electricity from the utility.
"This ballot initiative is a great example of where you need people from across the political spectrum to take on monopoly power," said Stephen Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, one of the environmental groups that has teamed up with the Tea Party.
But the oddball coalition also evokes the famous line from the film "Ghostbusters" about "dogs and cats living together." So how do groups who might normally be scratching and clawing at each others' throats over a wide array of issues work constructively on this one?
"We put blinders on," said Dooley. "And we have a mutual respect for our differences. I respect he has a right to believe the way he does and I have the right to believe the way that I do."
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Green Tea Coalition: Strange bedfellows fight for solar power in Sunshine State