Research Cited

In a political world plumbing new depths of bad behavior and obscene lies, somebody’s giving Trump and Clinton a run as lowest of the low.

The head of the think tank that provided research for a utility-backed solar amendment on the November ballot said his policy director “misspoke” when he characterized the effort as a strategy to deceive voters into thinking that the plan was a pro-solar amendment.

Opponents of Amendment 1 on Wednesday said a recorded presentation on the solar ballot initiative showed “fraudulent” intent by utilities backing the initiative.

Sal Nuzzo, a vice president at the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, called Solar Amendment 1, which has received more than $21 million in utility industry financing, ‘an incredibly savvy maneuver.’

Audio from a conservative conference confirms that Amendment 1 is trying to mislead voters in order to pass the Florida initiative.

Solar-energy supporters fighting proposed constitutional Amendment 1 on the November ballot expressed outrage Wednesday after a policy director for a Tallahassee-based think tank was caught on tape discussing utility-industry efforts to deceive voters.

Critics of Amendment 1 on next month’s ballot in Florida teed off on the sponsors of that measure on Wednesday, following an explosive report in the Miami Herald quoting a policy director with the James Madison Institute as saying the utility industry is trying to deceive voters into supporting restrictions on solar power by supporting the amendment.