With federal climate progress stalled, Simplify Solar advances local solutions 

This article With federal climate progress stalled, Simplify Solar advances local solutions  was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

“We have the groundwork in place to make solar power and renewable energy much more accessible than they are now,” celebrated climate activist Bill McKibben told people from all over the country on a Sept. 25 Zoom call. 

The virtual gathering was organized by Third Act, a national organization of people over 60 confronting the climate crisis. It took place just days after a Third Act-coordinated nationwide day of action called Sun Day, which saw over 500 events in 49 states draw attention to renewable energy’s vast potential. 

At a time when U.S. climate organizations are largely on the defensive, fighting the Trump administration’s rollbacks to climate action at the federal level, McKibben’s words underscored how Third Act has identified a rare opportunity to make real, short-term progress toward a clean energy future. The organization wants to remove local and state-level barriers that prevent people from harnessing the power of the sun.

“This is one area where we don’t have to wait,” said Third Act campaign strategist Jeremy Friedman. “You don’t have to wait for your state legislature to make things better, or for voters to throw out the politicians in Congress who repealed national climate legislation. We don’t have to wait for any policy change coming down from the top before we start taking action.”

Third Act calls its new campaign Simplify Solar. “It’s really more of a project than a single campaign,” Friedman said. “This is a decentralized effort, where volunteers will work at the local level to advance individual campaigns in their own communities.”

If successful, Simplify Solar could show how climate activists can still move the ball forward for clean energy, even at a time of unprecedented attacks on federal progress. 

Removing barriers 

“Solar is no longer ‘alternative’ energy,” said Deborah Moore, another Third Act strategist. “It’s really the best way to go.”

Solar energy is not only one of the cleanest forms of electricity, it’s also cheaper than energy from fossil fuels in much of the world, including large parts of the United States. Yet, a patchwork of state and local regulations adds time and expense to the process of installing home solar systems in the U.S. Many of these rules constitute unnecessary red tape that prevents people from powering their homes with clean, affordable energy. 

By challenging governments to remove these barriers, Third Act activists believe they can help clear a real roadblock to the widespread adoption of clean energy — and there isn’t much the Trump administration can do about it. The organization’s first step is gathering on-the-ground information about current regulations.

Currently, there is no single, publicly accessible database about how different towns, cities and counties handle solar permitting. This presents problems for people who want to install renewable energy, but whose only guide for how to navigate the process comes from solar companies themselves. 

“One of the barriers to the uptake of solar is poor information,” said Karen Gladding, a member of the coordinating committee for Third Act D.C. “And where do you go, except to a local installer? And then immediately you’re under pressure to sign a contract.”

This fall, Third Act is organizing a series of virtual trainings to help volunteers learn how to track down information about current policies pertaining to solar in their communities, then crowd source the information into a central database. This will provide a foundation for the next part of the project: persuading governments to remove unnecessary regulations.

“At the outset, we’re not treating city and county officials as targets who necessarily need to be pushed hard,” Friedman said. “Some may be allies waiting in the wings, who are ready to be invited into a partnership by our volunteers. A first step is to see what officials are already willing to work with us.”

Once activists identify where the rules for home solar need to be changed, and which lawmakers are receptive to helping, it will be time to put pressure on those decision makers who are more recalcitrant. This will likely involve some creative activism.

“I call it bureaucracy theater,” Friedman said. “We set up some desks along a sidewalk, complete with stacks of paper and a musty, white-wigged administrator behind the counter. Then, a volunteer playing the part of a beleaguered city resident goes from table to table, trying to get their solar permit approved and getting nowhere.”

Friedman said this kind of street theater is “a way to poke a little fun at the experience of navigating bureaucracy in the modern world.” The message is serious, though: Today, regulations governing rooftop solar aren’t just an inconvenience, but a genuine roadblock to progress on climate change.

“An exciting thing about this work is it’s something people can join from anywhere,” Friedman said. “Unlike so many other campaigns, you can find meaningful ways to participate whether you live in a red, blue or purple state.” 

Spanning political divides 

“Too often in politics, there’s an overwhelming focus on so-called purple states,” Friedman said. “This leaves people who don’t live in those states without many ways to contribute. Progressives in blue areas assume their state governments are already doing the right thing, while those in red states feel their representatives will never listen to them.” 

The issues Simplify Solar seeks to tackle are less straightforward. For example, blue states may have some of the most burdensome regulations holding solar back.

“Up until now, one of the worst states in the country for putting solar on your roof has been New Jersey,” Friedman said. “They actually have more state incentives to make solar cheaper than many other states — but the difficulty of the permitting process makes it so solar is still more expensive in New Jersey than neighboring Pennsylvania. That’s wasted money people are being forced to pay for very little reward.”

A bill passed by the New Jersey legislature this year will help streamline the process for approving home solar installations, assuming it’s signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy. However, the difficulties solar advocates have encountered there until recently illustrates how barriers to renewables can arise in unlikely places.

Simplify Solar isn’t about complete deregulation. 

“We need to ensure solar installations are safe,” Friedman said. “But once that’s taken care of, there doesn’t have to be a lot of additional government intervention.” 

Renewable advocates in politically red states can also take action, sometimes at the local level. Red states often contain urban centers where progressive lawmakers may be receptive to climate activists’ message. 

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Beyond this, the fact that simplifying solar is about reducing government regulation suggests at least the potential for genuinely bipartisan solutions. This year, Utah — one of the most conservative states in the country — passed a “balcony solar bill,” allowing people to plug small solar systems directly into home electrical outlets without additional fees. 

Simplify Solar’s state-level work is entering a quiet period, since most state legislatures meet mainly in the first half of the year. The project will use this time to collect more information about what state regulatory frameworks could most likely be improved.  

“Going into January and February, we’ll know a lot more about where legislators are willing and interested in introducing better laws,” Friedman said. 

Once state legislative sessions start, Third Act members expect to contact and meet with lawmakers, testify at legislative hearings and engage in more creative kinds of activism. These same types of action will be going on at the local level. 

There’s reason to think the organization’s specific volunteer power base might be uniquely suited to push this momentum forward.

Acting now 

“Third Actors are especially well positioned for this work, in some ways,” Friedman said. “Our volunteers are more likely to be homeowners than younger people. They’re more likely to have lived in one place for a long time, giving them a relationship with their town and local politics. Those who are retired also likely have flexible daytime hours for interacting with officials.”

Third Act was founded with the goal of marshalling the resources and creativity of people over 60 to tackle climate change. This makes it stand out from other climate groups that have tended to be led by young people, and which in some cases explicitly focus on engaging students.

Young activists will likely always play an important role in the climate movement. But few high school or college students have experience navigating local bureaucracies to make home improvements. Third Act’s volunteers are more likely to be familiar with these processes.  

Of course, older people also bring other valuable life experiences to the table. “We have members who are retired city employees, who are former elected officials, and folks who’ve been lawyers,” Friedman says. “Now, they can draw on all those years of experience to inform their activism.”

There are many different ways for volunteers to plug into Third Act’s campaigns. “A lot of how people engage will depend on temperament and ability,” Friedman said. “We’ve got folks with mobility issues, for example, who maybe can’t go testify at City Hall, but who can do research from home on existing local solar policies and share what they find with others.”

If successful, this work will lead to improved accessibility of home renewable energy systems for people all over the United States. This would help counteract some Trump administration efforts to remove renewable energy incentives, while laying the groundwork for rapid growth of renewables when the national political environment shifts again.

“With climate change, of course, we’re up against a real timeline to prevent the crisis from worsening,” Friedman said. “What’s so appealing about this project is it’s an opportunity to cut costs for solar no one wanted to pay — and to do it right now.”

This article With federal climate progress stalled, Simplify Solar advances local solutions  was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

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