As a lifelong conservative who has spent decades working on energy-related issues, including serving as a campaign surrogate on energy for John McCain’s 2008 presidential run, I recall that our ethos on energy has been solidly rooted in the catch-phrase “All of the Above.”

That phrase is in keeping with a genuinely conservative belief in the free market and its ability to drive investment to the smartest and most cost-effective energy technologies.

Not only is that approach naturally suited to keeping our energy costs low, it also can best ensure that America leads in the global race to dominate future energy markets.

So, why on earth have so many Arizona elected officials suddenly abandoned the All of the Above approach in favor of whacky, hairbrained energy cancel-culture?

And how ironic is it that the energy source being cancelled in the sunniest state in the union is solar?

It defies logic that Republicans in the state Legislature and on the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) have essentially declared war on the state’s cheapest, most price stable and most abundant energy source.

As folks labor under skyrocketing electricity costs and one utility rate hike after another, it’s worth pointing out that the price of solar generated electricity in Arizona (with storage) is less than half the cost of the electricity being generated by the state’s natural gas and coal plants.

In the current legislative session we’ve seen a parade of anti-solar bills being pushed by Republican state Reps. David Marshall and Ralph Heap.

These include House Bill 2331 that would require 85% of utility power generation come from sources other than solar and wind.

Perhaps Marshall and Heap would be surprised to learn that last year 40.2% of electricity in the state of Texas was generated by solar and wind.

Think about that. More than 40% of Texas power comes from the two cheapest and most price stable sources of electricity, yet this pair of energy cancel-culture warriors want to limit Arizona’s use of these to only 15%.

And energy cancel culture doesn’t stop there. These two also introduced House Bill 2267 that would declare utility-scale wind or solar farms a public nuisance when located within four miles of residential property, and House Bill 2975, which requires the State Land Department (SLD) to suspend the use of solar scores or similar solar evaluators in land use planning decisions.

The ACC, for its part, has enacted multiple measures designed to disadvantage homeowners with rooftop solar and discourage others from investing in the technology.

It has reduced the rate utilities must pay solar homeowners for the excess energy they feed back into the grid. The agency also approved a new monthly grid access fee which forces Arizona Public Service (APS) customers with rooftop solar to pay the utility even if they didn’t use a single watt of APS-generated electricity.

The ACC also recently repealed the state’s paltry 15% Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) that had been in place for the past 20 years. Neither APS nor Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has managed to meet that 15% mark, which they were supposed to do by 2025.

What a colossal failure. In terms of energy from the sun (solar irradiance), Arizona receives more than any other state. Texas, by the way, ranks 5th. Yet, many elected officials in this state are actively trying to prevent Arizonans from taking advantage of it.

Apparently, these geniuses have decided that because solar energy has been embraced by folks on the political left, they must be against it.

That logic is as dimwitted as you and me deciding to boycott all vegetables because some liberal vegetarians also happen to like them.

Solar energy is Arizona’s cheapest, most abundant, and most secure source of energy. It is produced in-state and not subject to global supply disruptions.

In this age of ever-rising electric bills, power hungry datacenters and global unrest, Arizonans need leaders who will ditch the foolishness and get serious about lowering energy costs.

That means a common-sense return to All of the Above, rejecting this whacky energy cancel culture, and fully embracing this state’s God-given solar.

David Jenkins is President of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, a national organization with more than 1,000 members in Arizona.