‘Running of the Bulls’ in Pamplona, Running of the Bull with Obama’s ‘Green Jobs’ Nonsense
The distinction is that state-sponsored ditch-digging does not necessitate higher energy prices, which chase other, largely manufacturing jobs to less hostile environments. But windmill and solar panel schemes did chase, e.g., European steel jobs to India and other exotic locations like Carroll County, Kentucky (North American Stainless, owned by Spain’s Acerinox). In short, you can make windmills from steel, but you won’t make steel using windmills.
Why the mandates? As the Institute for Energy Research found, despite receiving 100 times the subsidies of oil and gas, those favorite energy sources of the left (why might that be?), wind and solar, still can’t make it.
Federal Subsidies for Renewable Power Compared to Other Generating Technologies
AdvertisementWhile these are some of the more direct subsidies that wind and solar receive, there are many others at both the federal and state level, such as the accelerated depreciation mentioned above. The EIA did a study comparing the federal subsidies received for electric generation by fuel type for fiscal year 2007. ["Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets 2007", Table 35 (pdf)] They found that wind and solar received almost 100 times more in subsidies than oil and natural gas plants on an electricity production basis. Total federal subsidies for electric production from wind power were $23.37 per megawatt hour (in 2007 dollars) and for solar power were $24.34 per megawatt hour, compared to 44 cents for traditional coal, 25 cents for natural gas and petroleum liquids, 67 cents for hydroelectric power, and $1.59 for nuclear. These subsidies include the federal production and investment tax credits, but do not include accelerated depreciation (a five-year tax write-off) and state subsidies. Energy subsidies are paid for by consumers and tax payers; they are not free.
All of which Spain (and Obama’s other model Germany) learned, but Obama refuses to, even if we can safely assume he was told this by his sudden abandonment of directing us to Spain’s or Germany’s experience as his model after their truths were exposed. By now deciding against telling us what model he is following, he believes he can keep from us how it turned out there, and will turn out here.
It is almost as if our president wants the comparisons to Jimmy Carter. Claiming that taxpayer-funded solar power is the way of the future is about as good a way to guarantee them as any. Even Jon Stewart is mocking Obama for recycling failed plans of the past. But this isn’t funny any longer.
Maybe all this is one of those repentance moments. After his $1Bn loan guarantee to Petrobras (or should I say Memorium to George Soros) he felt the need to ‘offset’ his carbon angst with a green donation. Some kind of Freudian thing?
Naw, he’s just thick as a brick. More so that he doesn’t think anyone is watching or willing to remind him of the folly of his ways.
It is the “Centrally Planned” part of the Spanish model that Obama is particularly fond of.
Here’s another problem with the mythical “green economy”.
…Spain-based engineering company, will receive a $1.45 billion loan guarantee to build a solar power plant in Arizona…
‘Splain it to me, Lucy, why it is that our tax money isn’t going to an American company employing American workers during this worst recession in our history.
Does anyone else notice the crazy things we’re doing since we’ve abandoned the idea of manufacturing our own products?
Another job that Americans won’t do????
Abengoa Solar is a site developer. Lockheed Martin (USA)is the company that will provide the equipment and manpower for the Arizona solar farm. My client company (USA) will provide the structural and frame components to LM. Its a similar foodchain to wind power installations. Utility->Developer->Financing->Equipment Manufacturer->Subcontractors. I hope I ‘splained it ok.
I saw a study a week or so ago, that found that the deaths per megawatt of generated power was something like three times as high for the wind industry, as it was for the coal industry.
That’s a hoax. The solar and wind mines aren’t nearly so dangerous as the coal and uranium mines — fewer cave-ins.
Have you studied up on how dangerous building very tall towers is? People fall to their deaths, get struck by lightning, have pliars dropped from 500 feet up land on their heads.
Additionally, given how little energy wind power generates compared to coal power, 1 death in the wind industry is the equivalent to 1000 deaths in the coal industry. Remember, the comparison is on a megawatt generated basis. Not total deaths.
No hoax, just a failure to think it through.
Source, Ed? Modern mining is not very labor intensive; there aren’t that many people doing it, so per capita might be high, when per kiloWatt-hour would be very low.
No doubt Dwight will soon show up to tell us that anyone who objects to these plans is just being paranoid.
So, the “bomb-in-the-mail” hoax isn’t the only hoax Horner buys from Calzada? Horner also believes there can’t be good jobs from alternative power — though here in Texas we’ve been running machines with wind power for 150 years . . .
It’s embarrassing to admit that, following Horner’s policies, the U.S. has ceded engineering leadership to India and China (whose payroll is Horner really on?). But the fact is that green jobs produce significant local impacts. No, solar does not involve sending thousands of men down into coal mines. Learn to live with it.
Backwards Boy? Why don’t you ask Horner why he doesn’t like U.S. companies getting these jobs? His opposition is what keeps American companies from competing. Horner insists we shouldn’t be in that arena at all. Ask him why.
Speaking of buying into hoaxes. Nobody said that there aren’t good jobs in the wind/solar industry. The claim was that the money spent on wind/solar would result in an explosion of jobs.
That has quite clearly been disproven. A small handfull of jobs, but much less than the number of jobs destroyed by the taxes needed to subsidize the green jobs.
The fact that you believe that any info that runs counter to your religion is a hoax says plenty about you. And none of it good.
The article you liked to was interesting. No evidence of how the “US ceded engineering leadership” and lots of references to tax credits and subsidies, with the federal govt kicking in 30%! Even so, the company wants a county tax credit for their headquarters, which will have a whopping 20 employees! Like every other green jobs boondoggle, this one depends on massive govt incentives. That is why people like Horner don’t want these jobs. Ultimately, they are job killers, not job creators.
True, windmills have been in Texas for 150 years, and in other places for centuries longer. So have horse drawn vehicles. The modern day windmill is no better than those of yesteryear, only larger. Britain, Denmark and Texas are having real headaches with the vagaries of wind power. Britain is paying windmill operators not to run them, Denmark is selling surplus power to Norway and Germany at a loss, and I recently heard that Texas is or is proposing to pay consumers to use their surplus wind power.
The bottom line is that green energy is a white elephant.
I’m still trying to figure out why not having an engineering leadership position (assuming these histrionics are anywhere close to reality) in a technology that isn’t going anywhere, is such a bad thing.
Does the US have technological leadership in buggy whips? Does anyone care?
Windmills do produce significant local impacts. Migraine headaches from the noise and the elimination of the local bird population.
You bring up some thing I was wondering about. What is the environmental impact of the windmills? From what I have read so far in -underline start-Power Grab-underline end-, you need to clear a lot of terrain for windmills. This concerns me about wildlife habitat. Not only this, but how does the noise affect wildlife if it was generated? More so, do to the noise, does this cause any subsonic vibrations, loosening soils or causing sediments to stir in water? This sediment problem is one of the reason northern logging was done during the winter for wet areas. It was hard on fish habitat. Is this also going to be a problem with windmills? How does the presense of these machines affect watershed?
Don’t know if the vibrations will affect soil compaction, my personal guess is that the frequency is too low to have any impact.
As far as clearing millions of acres to implement, nothing tops solar power.
No surprise here; the Marxist Obama sending American dollars to support his fellow Marxist Zapetero in Spain. So the Obama is interested in supporting the communist economies of the world; what else is new, just look at Marxist Chicago, Marxist NYC, Marxist Philadelpia etc; no jobs come from communism only repression and theft.
Would it not be an impeacable offense if a President of the United States violated his oath of office by refusing to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, so help him God?
When does the call by “Republicans” come? When will the trial be scheduled?
If I remember right, Ed Darell runs a company who’s very existence depends on a continuing stream of govt subsidies.
2 things come to mind with this article. one is what choices do we have . no one what nuclear waste in there state. is a danger to human life and animals too oil isn’t going to be around forever. 2 using wind and solar is our only alternative unless we find a way to harness fusion and use that to create electrical power. and it will create jobs for the people of Arz and may grow to make for job in other states too
Arnold, wrong on all counts.
Nuclear waste is not an issue if you reprocess it.
Oil won’t be around forever, then again, neither will the earth. Oil and coal will be around for 400 to 500 years, which is close enough to forever that our great great grandkids won’t need to worry about it.
As has been demonstrated many times, wind and solar are not an option for generating electricity. Period. They are unreliable. That is, you never know when the wind is going to blow, and the sun shines only half of the day.
He did mention geothermal. That sparked my interest more than any thing.