Posted on 07/29/2008 4:06:53 AM PDT by shrinkermd
Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens is pushing a national campaign to make the U.S. "energy independent" through wind power and vehicles that run on natural gas. His blitz of TV ads featuring his own down-home voice has picked up a lot of admiring news coverage. To date, Pickens has yet to explain whose dime will pay for this.
Well, Californians can clarify exactly whose dime it will be: Ours. Along with being the country's biggest wind power developer, Pickens owns Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas fueling station company that is the sole backerof the stealthy Proposition 10 on California's November ballot. This measure would authorize the sale of $5 billion in general fund bonds to provide alternative energy rebates and incentives -- but by the time the principal and the interest is paid off, it would squander at least $9.8 billion in taxpayer money on Pickens' self-serving natural gas agenda
...Much of the measure's billions could benefit Pickens' company to the exclusion of almost all other clean-vehicle fuels and technology. Engines that run on compressed natural gas have a place in pollution reduction, especially for heavy trucks and public buses. But natural gas is a nonrenewable fossil fuel that we import from foreign sources, and it is no better (and in some cases worse) when it comes to emissions and fuel efficiency compared with the best hybrid cars or the new ultra-clean diesel engines. Most insidiously, Proposition 10's lavish rebates for natural gas-powered cars and trucks could crowd out superior technologies from taking root in California, the largest transportation market in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
That would make a great tagline.
“The free market will always be the superior method of picking winners and losers.
If you do not believe that basic principle, you are on the wrong site.”
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once again you miss my point..this is not a free market economy..to do business you must work within what is current economy..and yes I very much support free markets, but I do not ignore reality of todays economy in the USA.
If you want free markets both GOP and DEMORATS are not where you should be voting as they have increased government control over the economy they are both big government parties sad to say..perhaps Ron Paul would be better on the economic values we hold.
Government can only grant that after it has taken the land from somebody else, of course. Not that all public taking is bad. Sometimes it is in the public interest.
He is also counting on a government subsidy on each unit of energy generated.
The purpose of the project is to get that subsidy. The purpose of the public taking for the right-of-way is to get him his subsidy. So how does it benefit the public interest to take land from one person in order to aid another person in looting the treasury?
Have you noticed that FR is not particularly enthusiastic about the Republican Party in general and John McCain in particular?
Of course, Ron Paul suffers for being a complete nutbar...
Feel free to steal it!
I stole my new one from Overstock.com...
I could not find a source for this statement. Please post your source.
He granted an interview to Fast Company magazine, where he discusses the subsidy. I read it in the dead-tree edition. I will see if I can find it on-line.
T. Boone’s plan, like all plans to raid the Taxpayers’ pocketbooks, is not the best plan.
http://www.smartmoney.com/invisiblehand/index.cfm?story=20080708-foreign-oil
The Money Quote: (From Page 2)
Q: What happens if Congress doesn't extend the $20-per-megawatt-hour Production Tax Credit for wind -- set to expire December 31? On a project this size, that's an $80,000 deduction every hour at full capacity.
A: Then you've got a dead duck. It would be hard to go without a subsidy. But they'll probably pass it.
Will you agree that it's better to spend those dollars at home than sending them overseas, much of it to fund our enemy's war against us?
p.s.
And the subsidy is a tax credit.
I don’t understand why the upfront costs matter. A subsidy is a subsidy. If somebody spends money to exploit the law and gain a subsidy, that is an unproductive expenditure, and the subsidy must be all the greater to compensate him.
Pickens is betting on the Congress Crooks continuing their irrational energy policy and picking my pocket in the process. This is a pretty fair bet, of course. As the one who’s pocket is being picked, I am less than enthusiastic about the process.
As for the money being spent at home... If nobody builds the windmills, the money will not get spent at all! Isn’t that the best result?
“Of course, Ron Paul suffers for being a complete nutbar...”
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MSM has way of coloring our opinions, perhaps we make decisions based on incomplete information..
as for “nutbars” how about those who SPOUT FREE MARKETS/FREE TRADE BS when there is a very government controlled market place with big corps and gov in bed to beat back small co’s from gaining market share ?? is that nuts as well?
One imperfect policy does not mean all imperfect policies are acceptable.
If you object to goverment control of the marketplace, why are you adocating a big ol’ heaping pile of additional govermnent control and manipulation?
How is a tax credit to Pickens costing you money?
Do you not get tax incentives also, eg. home interest expense, personal exemptions, etc, etc? When can we count on you to not take advantage of these “unproductive expenditures”?
>>”If nobody builds the windmills, the money will not get spent at all! Isn’t that the best result?”<<
Our own government restricts carbon based energy sources for generating electricity. That leaves few choices for satisfying our needs for electricity besides wind. What is the market price for a barrel of wind?
If only Economics 101 were a prerequisite for voting on ballot initiatives!
Most voters in California think bonds are "free money."
So, as conservatives, we should all feed at the public trough?
Does not compute.
So, we should all just embrace socialism now?
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