Photo Credit: Irish Central
A few years ago Americans were introduced to “Green Companies” with cutting edge and promising names like: Solyndra, Fisker, Abound Solar and many others. All of them were the recipients of government backed loans and almost all of them have gone bankrupt leaving the American taxpayer holding the bag for billions. See
Heritage.
Not only were these “green companies” the recipients of outright taxpayer loans which they never repaid, they were also on the receiving end of tax breaks and subsidies designed to give them an edge.
For instance Tesla can get $45,000 for each car it sells in state and federal subsidies. The Tesla S starts at $69,000, so about 40% of its total cost is subsidies See: WUWT article.
See Tesla loses $10,000 Per Car: Profit Made From Government Subsidies, Loans and Incentives: Stephen Frank’s California.
But to even tilt the playing field farther in their favor, the government under the guise of the EPA and other agencies was busy punishing the competition of the favored “green energy industries.”
Obamas first Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said his stated goal was to get Americas gasoline prices in line with Europe’s. In California last week a gallon of supreme was 4.45.
The Keystone Pipeline has been delayed for years. More red tape and delay is greeting energy producers on federal lands. The war on the technology of fracking has delayed the capture of vast new resources of energy.
The administrations war on coal has been nothing short of a genocidal campaign against one of Americas most abundant and cheap sources of energy. Ignoring the fact huge advances have been achieved in the clean burning of coal and more advances are on the way. The government has decided to crush this industry with unreasonable timelines to impose their regulations.
Of course wind energy and solar subsidy campaigns are costing consumers billions and the unreliable power produced by these sources is far more expensive than conventional fossil fuel sources. Sometimes 3 times as much, when you count the hidden costs.
California has already warned consumers their electric rates will rise dramatically this year now that mandated renewable energy is coming on line. Other states will feel the pinch of higher utility rates, as coal fired power plants are shut down and renewable mandates start to kick in. See can’t afford to use the air conditioner.
America is suffering unnecessarily from high energy prices due to policies designed to punish them and foist on citizens forms of energy that are prohibitively costly and unreliable…..When at the same time America is sitting on an ocean of relatively cheap energy. See high cost of renewable electricity mandates by Hoover Institute.
Many European countries have embraced alternative energy at the behest of their left leaning governments and the citizens are now suffering as a result. Some households in the UK have to make a choice between buying food or paying their electric bill. See story in the UK Guardian.
America is about to have its day of reckoning with the reckless green energy policies foisted on them by the left……Elections do have consequences.
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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.
