Posts Tagged by energy subsidies
A Thought on Energy Subsidies
| October 3, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
If there is a central theme to the Renewable Energy Finance Forums generally, it’s pragmatism. You can listen to every word from the presenters — as well as from each the other participants as they network on breaks between the marathon sessions — and trust me: there isn’t so much as a breath of idealism. The show isn’t about what should happen, it’s about what will happen.
I had lunch the other day with an incredibly bright guy, a very practical physicist whose business characterizes materials for companies in solar, wind, and electric transportation — as well as dozens of other industries. I immediately saw that he was lukewarm on renewable energy. “I’m here to drum up business, but I’m reluctant to be connected with an industry that relies on subsidies,” he sneered.
When I pointed out that oil and gas get 12 times the subsidies that clean energy receives, he looked down at his arugula sheepishly and replied quietly,” Well, I guess what I meant to say is ‘subsidies that might go away.’”
Those few words encapsulate the root of the clean energy problem. Not only are the subsidies for fossil fuels enormous, they are taken for granted; they’re so well entrenched that they’re completely invisible. Contrast that to the mountain that is made out of the relatively small tax credits and government grants under TARP and ARPA-E to stimulate development of clean energy.
I have to hand it to these oil companies for the deftness with which they’ve soaked us for everything we’re worth. The checks that we taxpayers write to them every day go completely unnoticed. These people have taken larceny and elevated to the plain of art. The lesson here is clear and simple: we must not underestimate the skill of the people we’re playing against.
Energy Subsidies
| September 21, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Frequent commentor Alex C. writes:
We need to get government OUT of control or manipulation over energy. The only role of government is to protect citizens from excessive pollution (excluding the CO2 global warming farce). Let the private sector invest and develop the technologies and let the most ECONOMICAL and CLEAN energy win. A job created by government taking of wealth does NOT create wealth…..it just destroys it.
Alex: I actually agree with most of this. The problem lies in extricating government fully — not just out of the clean energy side, but from the fossil fuel side as well, which, according to reports I find credible, receives 12 times the level of funding that renewables does. And it goes without saying that the nuclear energy industry couldn’t exist for 10 minutes without enormous government subsidies. The U.S. nuclear industry has received $100 billion in government subsidies over the past half-century, and federal subsidies now worth up to $13 billion a plant.
As I noted, this list of subsidies for fossil fuels takes many forms, some of them (deliberately?) hidden: Read More
Energy Subsidies and a Level Playing Field
| August 3, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
When we talk about a “level playing field” for renewables, we mean that we simply hope for a day in which the incentives to generate energy from fossil fuels are removed and the energy industry and its customers must pay the full costs. We feel that more or less immediately, this will cause renewable energy to be perceived as a considerable bargain.
Here’s a short article on energy subsidies from Bloomberg, published just a few days ago, in which writer Alex Morales points out the fossil fuels receive 12 times the subsidies as clean energy. If we can somehow put a spear through this shameful and corrupt practice, we’ll be in good shape.
Good News in Energy Subsidies
| February 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Hey — some good news for a change! Progressive change in energy subsidies.
“Ask and ye shall receive,” as my father is fond of saying.
