The former Veep and Inconvenient Truther teamed up with a Tea Party firebrand against utility policies to roll back rooftop solar incentives:

In back-to-back speeches, the political Odd Couple struck surprisingly similar tones on clean energy’s future, even if Gore dwelled on renewables’ role in avoiding catastrophic global warming while Dooley didn’t use the words “climate change” at all, focusing on consumer choice.

“This is a battle that we will win,” said Dooley, a board member of the National Tea Party Patriots group. “I am literally floored with the response I have been getting from conservatives with the right message.”

Tea Party leaders of course never mention the words “climate change” because it “shuts down” the conversation. But solar means freedom and independence for many Tea Party conservatives, which is an important message for solar advocates to drive home.

Ultimately, political inroads among conservatives on issues like renewables will be necessary to build support for the broader policies needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Let’s see if this movement will translate to Tea Party support for electric vehicles, energy storage and energy efficiency. Now that would really be an inconvenient truth — for climate deniers and the fossil fuel industry.