It helps that the more vociferous opponents of clean energy are also some of the more obnoxious and corrupt politicians imaginable.
An aggressive new political action committee backed by renewable energy supporters claimed its biggest and clearest win yet Thursday by helping unseat conservative Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee despite President Donald Trump’s vocal support.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC spent $2 million opposing Ogles and boosting Republican primary opponent Charlie Hatcher — more than both candidates combined — and the group is now poised to be a force in future contests.
Ogles was the third Republican this year to lose a race after being targeted by the super PAC, launched by solar executives wanting to get back at Republicans who actively work against renewables.
“[W]e will continue to punish members of either party who want to play politics with American jobs, energy security, and utility prices. The entire map is in play and we will take this fight across the country through November,” Tom Matzzie, CEO of solar company CleanChoice Energy and chair of Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, said in a statement.
The group’s ads did not mention clean energy, instead targeting conservative voters with advertisements that boosted Hatcher’s right-wing credentialsandchided Ogles for missing votes.
The PAC deployed a similar playbook against Texas Rep. Chip Roy in his unsuccessful attorney general bid and South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, who lost his campaign for governor.
Lawmakers like Ogles, Roy and Norman pushed Republican leaders in Congress last year for a quick phaseout of renewable energy incentives in what became the One Big Beautiful Bill act.
“The clean energy industry’s political muscle is only getting stronger and more intimidating. So our hope here is that clean energy will go back to being a bipartisan issue, and maybe one of the few issues that all Americans can agree on. But before we get there, we’ve got to continue our retribution tour and take out a few more members who have voted the wrong way,” said Michael Brune, former executive director of the Sierra Club and co-founder of the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition.
Chris Larsen — the PAC’s top backer, who has contributed $6 million of its $6.8 million — has called its advocacy “political warfare.” “The worst that you want in a political fight is for your opponents to think you’re weak,” he said at a May event.
The group incorporates lessons learned from the crypto industry, where Larsen was the co-founder of Ripple Labs. Ripple helped fund Fairshake, a super PAC that has spent more than $200 million to unseat unfriendly politicians. Larsenalso leads the environmental philanthropy Clean Break Fund with Brune.
Ogles tore into the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition as voters were going to the polls Thursday, proudly taking credit for the tax credit rollbacks and saying the government shouldn’t be supporting “some libtard in California that’s a billionaire” — an apparent reference to Larsen.
“They literally are trying to make an example out of me to try to strike fear in other Republicans. Which is why, if they prevail, this will have a chilling effect to the conservatives in Congress,” Ogles said on Nashville’s Morning News, a radio show.
“Our goal is to make sure people choose not to cross the industry,” Tom Matzzie, CEO of solar company CleanChoice Energy and chair of the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, told POLITICO on Friday.
“I think this is by far our biggest step forward in terms of accomplishing our goal, and it definitively sends a signal that our deterrence is real, and that we will get involved,” he said.
While Invest in Tomorrow spent money to beat Republican Rep. Chip Roy in his Texas attorney general race and Republican Rep. Ralph Norman in his South Carolina gubernatorial race, its investment to defeat Ogles’ reelection bid was its biggest since launching earlier this year. It also got the most national attention, assisted by Ogles criticizing the group.
“Andy Ogles is our best publicist. He is a giant whiner, and once he started complaining about us … I’m like, ‘This guy is delivering our strategy for us,’” Matzzie said.
Ogles said on Nashville’s Morning News, a radio show, “They literally are trying to make an example out of me to try to strike fear in other Republicans. Which is why, if they prevail, this will have a chilling effect to the conservatives in Congress.”
The super PAC, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, has spent in a handful of races this year, targeting what it sees as the top foes of the renewable energy sector.
So far, that has mostly meant opposing the most vocal supporters of quickly ending renewable tax credits in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the signature GOP tax law, with advertising meant to appeal to conservative audiences.
Matzzie previously worked for the AFL-CIO’s electoral efforts and was the Washington director of MoveOn.org, a progressive political advocacy group.
