The thought of green energy is a nice one. BUT, at what cost?
Right now, Government subsidies are about the only reason that any Green energy company is able to stay in business right now.
That means, if your buddy next door is going Green, your tax dollars are helping him pay for it.
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Why green energy still needs Uncle Sam's helpSun Run's growth spurt is in large part due to the subsidies it enjoys from the federal government. Fenster expects his customers to more than double next year.
Generally, tax breaks mean the federal government absorbs about 30% of the costs for a solar project. That's fairly standard across the wind and solar industry. Fenster knows just where his business, and others like it, would be if those subsidies disappeared.
"No solar business would survive," he said. "I can't imagine you'd find much new wind construction either."What happens when the money runs out?
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Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State AidHundreds of employees of a solar panel factory in Massachusetts are looking for new jobs after the company announced that it's moving the plant to China.
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A Lack Of Federal Support
While many have directed their anger at Massachusetts for giving too generously to Evergreen, Burroughs says the problem may be that the manufacturer didn't get enough assistance at the federal level.
"I like the idea of the state supporting an industry such as this," he says. "But maybe there needs to be more federal support to help a company be successful."The US is in Debt. We are pretty much broke, so, why do we spend so much money on inefficient programs? Ethanol is another example. It costs so much more than gas to produce, and our taxes provide the subsidies to the farmers to make the corn for it, so, you are actually paying even more for that gas at the pump than the stated price.
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Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as ‘Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning’David Pimental, a leading Cornell University agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S. automobile for one year on ethanol (blended with gasoline) derived from corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow a year's supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTUS. Thus, 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in it. Every time you make one gallon of ethanol, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTUs.The Government is also has enacted the Cap and Trade Program to
"Punnish" the dirty energy producers. Guess who eats the cost? Us. The only way to make the GREEN look better is to make it so expensive with fines and taxes to produce energy normally that the difference in cost is reduced. Some think Global Warming and Cap and Trade is a scam.
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Cap-and-Trade: A Scam Based on a ScamCap-and-Trade Act: Constitute the greatest tax on energy use in the history of the nation
If the Cap-and-Trade Act is passed at the urging of the Obama administration, it will constitute the greatest tax on energy use in the history of the nation and it will energize exchanges, such as the one in Chicago, set up to buy and sell the carbon credits.
As reported by Investor’s Business Daily on May 7, “The carbon trading system being pushed here has spawned crime and fraud across the pond. Cap-and-Trade is not about saving the planet. It’s about money and power, and absolute power corrupting absolutely.”These techs are not presently cost effective on their own.
So, what do you think? Are we paying too much for energy and to be
GREEN?