Where I grew up, the term “hijacking” usually referred to the disappearance of a fresh load of moonshine on its way to market. Hijacking occurs when something, or even some process, is taken over without the consent and, at times, even the knowledge of the rightful owner. Hijacking, like classic high-seas piracy, is one of the most direct and forceful means of stealing something from someone.
Well, folks, I’ve recently come to realize you can hijack a whole lot more than moonshine in the South. A bunch of hijackers from California, and even China, have come to recognize our home, the Southeastern United States, as a field ripe for the picking.
Just last year, in the November elections in Georgia, millions of dollars from these hijackers flowed into the Georgia Public Service Commission races. As a result, two incumbent Republican PSC commissioners lost by about 24 points apiece. That is the first time a Democrat has been elected to the PSC in Georgia since 2000. That, my friends, was a good old-fashioned hijacking.
So, who was the hijacker? An operation called the Georgia League of Conservation Voters pumped about $2.2 million into the Georgia PSC races. They got their money from their mothership, a national group called the League of Conservation Voters. This organization, with funding from liberal groups across the nation, reckoned that just a little of their money in down-ballot races would let them sneak in under the radar and hijack those Georgia elections. They were right. They pulled it off slick as a whistle. And now they are setting up a hijacking in Alabama.
And while it sounds like something from a John Grisham novel, an outfit headquartered in Beijing is a prominent player in the money trail funneling cash through the League of Conservation Voters and right to Alabama.
Conservation Alabama is the local wing of the League of Conservation Voters, and they partner with and help support a liberal environmentalist group called Energy Alabama. These two organizations are carrying the water for the same folks who hijacked the elections in Georgia.
So, how do we stop them?
Last week, the Alabama State Senate took a major step toward derailing these liberal out-of-state hijackers with the passage of SB360 – a bill that passed the Senate without a single dissenting vote 32-0.
This legislation does three things to deal with rising power bills while stopping the influence of California environmental groups in our elections.
First, it freezes rates for Alabama Power for three years. Folks, that is an unprecedented action by our Legislature that gives Alabama families and businesses rate assurance that no one else in the nation has.
Second, it enlarges the Public Service Commission from three commissioners elected statewide to seven commissioners elected by Congressional District. This historic change in the structure of the PSC puts more power in the ballot box and in the hands of the people than has ever existed.
Third, it creates a cabinet level position for a Secretary of Energy that will raise the importance of providing affordable, reliable energy to a new level. But this Secretary will not have ultimate power. The elected commission members can override the Secretary and nothing, absolutely nothing, happens without a vote of the seven elected commissioners.
These California hijackers, with financial backing that goes all the way to China, have crossed the Chattahoochee River. But they will find it a whole lot harder to work their devious plans with seven elected commissioners rather than three. Nevertheless, liberal environmentalists are still going to argue that a three-year rate freeze is a bad thing and that giving the people more control at the ballot box is somehow wrong.
After unanimous passage in the Senate, the House will begin work on the legislation this week. A unified show of strength against these out-of-state pirates will help serve notice that Alabama cannot be hijacked by paid social media trolls and intentional deception.
With only a few days left in the legislative session, let’s hope our House of Representatives will finish the job and send these hijackers packing back to California.
See you next week.
Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at [email protected].
