(Christian Josi) — Ed. Note: An earlier version of this article initially appeared in PJ Media

As a former head of the American Conservative Union and CPAC and having served in various capacities within the center-right movement throughout my entire life, I have seen and experienced quite a lot, and have learned early on that the Republican Party and the conservative movement are most effective when we lead with the facts, not based on how policies make us “feel.” After all, supporting a policy because it makes you feel good is what has decimated the Democratic Party and led to idiotic proposals like defunding the police and canceling Thanksgiving.

With all the news these days about data centers and electricity, I think it is important to weigh in when we’re talking about how conservatives “feel” about these issues. That leads to me a current debate taking place in Iberville Parish, in Louisiana.

Parish leaders are deciding whether or not to allow an industrial-scale solar field to be built on private property – and paid for by private entities. More specifically, the plant will be built by the local electric company, Entergy, and some of the energy it produces will be used to help power Meta’s new data center in Richland Parish.

This situation has become a controversy, because solar power is affiliated with lefties and Democrats, and there are local conservative activists putting pressure on Republicans serving on the Parish Council to oppose allowing this solar plant to be built. Opponents to the plant say they are worried about everything from the solar panels breaking and leaching toxic chemicals into the groundwater to the panels themselves becoming dangerous projectiles in a hurricane.

My understanding is that neither of these environmental concerns with solar panels is valid, but let’s set that aside.

The real issue here is does a private company and a private landowner have the right to conduct business on their land with their money – or not? To be clear, Meta is asking for this power from a renewable source. Clearly, this is because Meta has customers all over the U.S. and some of those customers want Meta to use renewable energy. Just because you don’t agree with what Meta wants, that doesn’t mean Meta doesn’t have a right to ask for it. And, what right do you have to block it?

After all, Meta is bringing billions of dollars of investment to one of the poorest sections of the nation. People living in and around Meta’s new data center are getting good jobs. The communities in the region are building their tax base to pay for better services like police and fire. Also, this investment by Meta is helping to keep families intact because young people who used to have to leave Richland Parish to find work, can now stay at home and be gainfully employed.

Indeed, one amazing story out of Richland Parish (where the Meta data center is being built) are the public-school teachers there that all got an over $50,000 cash gift because Meta is building this facility.

So as a conservative, I say if Meta wants solar, I am happy to give it to them if it’s not hurting anyone else. And I am not sure concerns about flying solar panels during hurricanes counts as a reason for the government to block this solar plant from being built. After all, hypothetical environmental concerns used to clamp down on private businesses are the tools of the trade of the far left.

For example, because progressives hate fossil fuels, in places like New York and parts of New England, they are suffering from higher electricity prices because they lack adequate power supplies. As data centers come online, it would sure be nice to have that extra electricity to help ease constrictions caused by supply and demand.

That brings me back to Louisiana and Iberville Parish. With Meta’s data center under construction, and other large scale industrial customer moving to Louisiana, having that extra electricity from this solar plant would help increase supply and make energy more affordable. This solar plant will help lower people’s electric bills. So, what is conservative about asking working class families to pay more for electricity, just because some of that electricity is generated by solar power?

Also, before solar panels became part of the culture war – causing some Republicans to reflexively oppose them because Democrats like them – the Parish Council passed an ordinance in 2023 laying out the rules for building solar plants. The proposed solar plant the council will vote on this week exceeds those standards, especially regarding setbacks from the road – it will be about 4 football fields from major roadways and will have vegetation barriers that are taller than the panels at their peak height. Yet even though this solar field will help spur economic growth and create additional electricity, the Parish Council may reject it. That would be a mistake, and not conservative leadership.

Finally, I suspect that many people in Louisiana are conservatives like me because they believe in this principle: keep government out of people’s lives unless it’s absolutely necessary.

In my view, building a solar plant on private property, with private money, for private companies is not an invitation for Big Government to get involved. It shouldn’t be opposed because of how some people, conservative or not, feel about solar panels. Therefore, I urge Iberville Parish to approve this solar plant, and let’s be conservatives because we believe in freedom, not intrusive government intervention.

Christian Josi is a veteran media relations/public affairs professional and political strategist. He writes frequently on a variety of subjects for a variety of publications.