Sunrise co-founder backs clean energy pause in Michigan race — SkimNews
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- William Lawrence co-founded the Sunrise Movement and is now running for Congress in Michigan’s 7th District, where he has gained backing from anti-development activists by criticizing large-scale clean energy and data center projects.
- Marjorie Steele, head of the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance, endorsed Lawrence after he listened to her concerns about renewable energy projects destroying farmland and creating noise pollution, despite her frequent clashes with climate progressives.
- Lawrence called for a national pause on data center construction and criticized Michigan’s 2023 solar preemption law, arguing that top-down development lacks community buy-in and fails to deliver long-term local benefits.
- The 7th District is a swing seat where data center and solar farm opposition spans partisan lines, with backlash uniting MAGA conservatives, progressives, and independents around shared distrust of outside corporate and government-led development.
- Lawrence has campaigned as a community organizer, knocking on over 100,000 doors and attending local town halls, including a Mason city council meeting where he opposed a proposed data center alongside residents.
- The Assembly Solar project, the first major solar farm approved under Michigan’s state preemption law, recently finished construction in Lawrence’s district and has become a flashpoint for local opposition over its impact on agrarian life.
Why it matters: Lawrence’s campaign reshapes climate politics by aligning a progressive climate activist with clean energy skeptics, turning community consent into a central issue. If he wins, it could slow large renewable projects in swing districts where local opposition threatens both party agendas and national decarbonization timelines.
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