On Monday, Google announced that it was cutting ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, the powerful Koch-backed conservative group that, among other things, opposes government action to combat climate change. ‘Everyone understands climate change is occurring and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren,” Google’s Eric Schmidt said on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, adding for good measure: ‘And so we should not be aligned with such people-they’re just, they’re just literally lying.”

The conservative group, which has been steadfast in its opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to curb carbon emissions, was quick to shake off Google’s high-profile defection, attributing it to ‘public pressure from left-leaning individuals and organizations who intentionally confuse free market policy perspectives for climate change denial.” Take a closer look at ALEC’s priorities, though, and there’s evidence that the group’s commitment to ‘free market policy perspectives” is less resolute than its climate denialism. Consider, for instance, ALEC’s push to squash the nascent rooftop solar industry.

ALEC and its allies are currently lobbying state lawmakers and regulatory commissioners to rewrite industry rules regarding solar panels. The apparent goal: to ensure that customers with rooftop panels pay more each month and to […]