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BY BRUCE HENDERSON
<br />AND Jnvt MORRML
<br />bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
<br />'morrillCa charlotteobserver.com
<br />A Charlotte entrepreneur has
<br />quietly launched a $175 million
<br />campaign to convince his fellow
<br />conservative Republicans that cli-
<br />mate change is real and business
<br />can fix it.
<br />Jay Faison, a son of the late Char
<br />lotte developer Henry Faison, made
<br />his own fortune 18 months ago
<br />when he sold audio - visual equip-
<br />ment company SnapAV. Then he
<br />went to work on what he calls "the
<br />biggest risk and the biggest oppor-
<br />tunity of our time."
<br />ClearPath, the nonprofit founda-
<br />tion he started with $165 million
<br />from the sale, aims to demystify cli-
<br />--fe science and seek market-
<br />biggest problem we've ever faced.
<br />Many countries have solutions and
<br />are well past us, and doing it with-
<br />out doing harm to their economies.
<br />Americans can choose to do very
<br />little or we can choose to lead."
<br />Information campaign
<br />Like his friend, ClearPath adviso-
<br />ry board member Shannon Smith
<br />believes in commercial solutions to
<br />energy and environmental prob-
<br />lems. Smith is CEO of Charlotte's
<br />Abundant Power Group, which
<br />helps buildings pollute less and op-
<br />erate better.
<br />The foundation's message "has to
<br />be trustworthy and unbiased,"
<br />Smith said.
<br />"Republicans perceive the issue
<br />as biased due to liberal overreach
<br />over how to handle the issue gov-
<br />ernmentally. We missed the signal
<br />for the noise," he said.
<br />Faison says he's "tired of political
<br />rock throwing." But he seeded a
<br />based solutions as a counterweight
<br />to governmental approaches.
<br />Its website, which went online
<br />Tuesday, is packed with pieces on
<br />energy efficiency, renewable ener-
<br />gy, electric vehicles
<br />and companies re-
<br />ducing their carbon
<br />footprints.
<br />Carefully foot-
<br />noted, it cites au-
<br />ti thorities on the
<br />Faison threats of higher
<br />temperatures, rising
<br />sea levels, dwindlingwater supplies
<br />and global instability.
<br />Faison, who is 47 and a Charlotte
<br />native, glimpsed that future on
<br />hunting and fishing trips that in-
<br />creasingly took him into a warming
<br />world.
<br />"The ducks come South later in
<br />wig
<br />e
<br />answered, •':;
<br />f'
<br />BOB INGLIS
<br />REPUBLICEN.ORG
<br />separate entity with $10 million to
<br />allow for more political participa-
<br />tion.
<br />"I'm pretty active in North Caroli-
<br />na now on what's going on in Ra-
<br />' 1
<br />the year, and the trout move up-
<br />river. You just notice these changes,
<br />and it doesn't seem natural," he
<br />said. "People who live outdoors
<br />notice, and these are changes that
<br />have just happened over the past
<br />decade or two."
<br />Polls suggest ClearPath will
<br />struggle to win over many conser-
<br />vative Republicans.
<br />A Gallup poll in April found only
<br />37 percent think climate change
<br />will occur in their lifetimes, Politico
<br />reported. Forty percent predicted it
<br />will never happen.'
<br />But Republicans who promote
<br />climate action insist conservative
<br />voters are ready, after years of pola-
<br />rizing debate, to listen to new ap-
<br />proaches.
<br />"If the question is posed — can
<br />SEE CLIMATE, PAGE 8A
<br />leigh that's been interesting," he
<br />said. "There's a need for good, clear
<br />information in Raleigh, and we're
<br />helping with that."
<br />Faison's $10 million would be
<br />more than all but 13 super PACs
<br />and other groups spent on the 2014
<br />elections, says the Center for Re-
<br />sponsive Politics, a nonpartisan re-
<br />search group. NextGen Climate Ac-
<br />tion Committee, started by billion-
<br />aire hedge fund manager Tom
<br />Steyer, spent nearly $66 million in
<br />2014.
<br />"There's no doubt (the money)
<br />will make an impact," said state
<br />Rep. Charles Jeter, a Huntersville
<br />Republican. "If he wants to play in
<br />legislative races, it will make an im-
<br />pact on anybody who wants to have
<br />these chairs."
<br />The conservative - dominated leg-
<br />islature this year moved to freeze a
<br />green - energy standard that helped
<br />make North Carolina a national
<br />leader in solar power. It hasn't
<br />SA Wednesday, June 10 2015
<br />CLIMATE
<br />CONTINUED FROM PAGE IA
<br />free enterprise solve climate
<br />change? — then it can be enthusias-
<br />tically answered, `You bet we can,' "
<br />said Bob Inglis, a former member of
<br />Congress from South Carolina. "It's
<br />all about showing them a solution
<br />that fits with their values."
<br />Inglis leads the online forum
<br />republicEn.org, at George Mason
<br />University in Virginia, which focus-
<br />es on free - enterprise solutions to
<br />climate change. He views Faison as
<br />the ideal messenger.
<br />"He's a businessman and a Re-
<br />publican, he's handsome and artic-
<br />ulate — it couldn't be better posi-
<br />tioning to turn heads and change
<br />minds on climate change," he said.
<br />"This is not a San Francisco liberal
<br />who's trying to dupe somebody into
<br />something they don't believe."
<br />Faison's own notion of success:
<br />"American leadership solving the
<br />AF The News & Observer+
<br />viewed climate change as a press-
<br />ing issue.
<br />But some Republican members
<br />side with Faison on the science.
<br />"There's enough scientists say-
<br />ing we've got a huge risk here, we
<br />would be stupid not to protect our-
<br />selves from that risk. Even if they're
<br />wrong," said state Rep. Chuck
<br />McGrady, a Hendersonville Repub-
<br />lican who once led the national
<br />Sierra Club.
<br />Sen. Jeff Tarte, a Cornelius Re-
<br />publican who is co- sponsoring a bill
<br />to extend renewable energy tax
<br />credits, said the facts are beyond
<br />debate.
<br />"To not believe in climate change
<br />is to say that there were never dino-
<br />saurs on the planet, that Columbus
<br />sailed off the edge of the Earth and
<br />that the moon landing occurred on
<br />a back lot in Burbank," he said.
<br />Henderson: 704-358-5051;
<br />Twitter: Ca bhender
<br />
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