[Prophet2520]

Thanks for the link, even if you present it with insults and bias, and apparently didn’t read much of the other info.

“Notice the subsidies are about the same for coal and solar.”

At least now you are seeing that solar help by the federal government is not worse than coal, so don’t treat it differently.

“State subsidies increase the solar subsidy load significantly.”

The link you provided is only for federal subsidies. To make that statement you would need to prove there have been no state subsidies for coal, which is ridiculous.

Also, what you seem to be forgetting is history. That link may give some numbers for 2010, but the entire coal industry, electric industry, the power grid and everything has been subsidized for like a hundred years. It would be one thing if all the subsidies for central power had stopped 70 years ago once the power grid was established, but NOT.

[mrsmith]

You’re welcome. Citing Wikipedia, thinkprogress, etc is defeating one’s own argument.
You ignore the STATE and federal taxes coal pays which solar doesn’t.

If you want to try to make the case that state subsidies for coal are or ever were of a par with the solar subsidies and mandates of today the effort would be rewarding.

Historically, the choice was between ‘no electricity’ and subsidies. In the last fifty years or so electricity has been produced and delivered by mostly quasi-government utilities. Yes, utilities are fascist! That system seems to work best in this rare instance.
But of course solar PV use depends greatly upon the subsidized power grid so that subsidy must be counted as a subsidy for PV too...

[thackney]

At least now you are seeing that solar help by the federal government is not worse than coal,

So how many MWH/$?

The link was for 2010 data, so let us compare what those two energy sources produced in 2010.

Coal produced 11,847,290 Thousand Megawatthours

All non-hydro renewables produced 167,173 Thousand Megawatthours

Solar (thermal and voltaic) produced 423 + 789 = 1,212 Thousand Megawatthours

http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_1_1

http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_1_1_a

So the $1,358 million subsidy in coal technologies is 8,724,072 MWH per dollar.

The $1,134 million subsidy in coal technologies is 1,069 MWH per dollar.

Looks to me like the Solar Subsidy is over 8 thousand times greater.