Sheehy mocks Green New Deal, but runs his house on solar
Darrell Ehrlick
(Daily Montanan) Montana’s junior U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy has frequently criticized renewable energy, but his own Gallatin County Home appears to run on “green energy crap,” which most people would likely call a solar and battery storage system.
Sheehy’s choice of power seems to be at odds with his public positions on green and renewable energy, and he isn’t talking about the apparent contradiction either.
In a news story by E&E News and Politico on Tuesday, the outlets report that Sheehy, a Republican and critic of the “Green New Deal” and other Democratic-backed renewable energy proposals has installed solar panels on his house while voting against federal policies that would have offered residents tax breaks for similar actions.
When confronted by reporters from the Washington-D.C.-based publications, he balked at questions, saying that he wasn’t commenting on his own personal house.
The Daily Montanan also reached out to Sheehy’s office for comments and clarification, but had received no response by Wednesday afternoon.
But the two national news organizations had experts review publicly available satellite images to confirm the solar panel-battery system that was installed in 2020 or 2021. Two sources said that Bozeman-based OnSite Energy installed the system, according to E&E News and Politico.
Sheehy has criticized a wide swath of renewable energy projects from military applications to residential applications. He has characterized renewables as “green energy crap,” according to E&E News.
Politico also reported that Sheehy’s solar panels have been known for some time, briefly causing renewable energy lobbyists to be hopeful that he would become part of a small but apparently growing portion of the Republican caucus who has supported renewable energy projects, but those hopes were soon dashed as Sheehy came out with full-throated support of President Donald J. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” which reversed many renewable policies, including provisions that industry leaders estimated would cost as many as 760,000 jobs by 2030, according to E&E News.
Sheehy’s opposition to green or renewable projects stands in contrast to his business and some writings before he became a politician in which he said his aerial firefighting company would only become more important with climate change and an increase in firefighting needs.
During his 2024 campaign in which he beat Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, Sheehy dismissed green energy in favor of more traditional, fossil fuel sources.
“We must also take a strong stand against the disastrous socialist Green New Deal that would destroy Montana’s economy and jobs and devastate our communities,” he said in a policy portion of his campaign website. “We can power America’s resurgence with the greatest form of energy known to man, our God given natural resources. We are blessed here with abundant coal, minerals, timber and grasslands – let’s make sure Montana producers come first. We should be able to responsibly develop those resources here at home to create more high-paying jobs, lower energy costs, and support our communities, all while protecting the environment. This isn’t an either/or choice like the left would have you believe.”