Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Acting Commerce Secretary: Despite Failures, ‘U.S. Can’t Afford’ Not to Subsidize Green Tech
CNSNews ^

Posted on 09/29/2011 10:18:13 AM PDT by Sub-Driver

Acting Commerce Secretary: Despite Failures, ‘U.S. Can’t Afford’ Not to Subsidize Green Tech By Matt Cover September 29, 2011

(CNSNews.com) – Acting Commerce Department Secretary Rebecca Blank said that in a global race for green technology, the United States “can’t afford” not to spend taxpayer money on such projects, and that the price of that spending is an occasional failure. One of those failures was a $535-million federal loan guarantee to the Solyndra company that makes solar panels but which recently filed for bankruptcy.

“The U.S. can’t afford to not be a major winner in this race,” Blank said Thursday on a conference call with reporters. “That necessarily means that there’s going to be some capital investment by the U.S. government. But it is new technology and that means that there is sometimes risks.”

Blank said that because green technology can sometimes be untested, the risk of failure will always be there when government subsidizes green companies.

“Make no mistake, that when you’re in a new innovation race of the sort that we are with every other advanced country in the world you are always out there on the cutting edge,” she said, “and that involves both big returns but sometimes involves some risks [of failure] as well.”

(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: corruption; democrats; envirofascism; fraud; globalwarming; globalwarminghoax; greenenergy; greenfraud; liberlafascism; solargate; thegreenlie
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last
That's is the role of the federal government?
1 posted on 09/29/2011 10:18:16 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Use your money, Toots, not ours.

The market will decide, not a lifetime paid and pensioned unionized bureaucrat who has Al Gore as a High Priest.


2 posted on 09/29/2011 10:21:01 AM PDT by wac3rd (Somewhere in Hell, Ted Kennedy snickers....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Picking “winners” from among “high technology” companies is difficult for professional investors. Does anybody think that government bureaucrats can successfully evaluate technology? I don’t.


3 posted on 09/29/2011 10:21:25 AM PDT by Tallguy (You can safely ignore anything that precedes the word "But"...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

I really hate these people. It is so frustrating to watch.


4 posted on 09/29/2011 10:21:52 AM PDT by ColdOne (I miss my poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Yep; it it’s to SPEND, SPEND, SPEND, and WASTE, WASTE, WASTE on every hairbrained unicorn fart collector panel production facility that comes down the pike with Democrat Party campaign donations, I suppose it is.


5 posted on 09/29/2011 10:23:04 AM PDT by Twinkie (For God (the Father) so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son .. John 3:16)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Further illustration as to why we have a mountain of debt to pay back. These ass-clowns have no concept of ROI when spending taxpayer money on these boondoggles.


6 posted on 09/29/2011 10:23:26 AM PDT by RockyMtnMan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

If the technology REALLY worked, the market would make it successful. Throwing our money at it won’t make it work better.

Remember Europe’s example: they have been controlling their energy sector with high taxes and fees for decades. They are not the green energy paradise they should be if government action was the solution


7 posted on 09/29/2011 10:25:53 AM PDT by Adder (Say NO to the O in 2 oh 12)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
“Make no mistake, that when you’re in a new innovation race of the sort that we are with every other advanced country in the world you are always out there on the cutting edge,” she said, “and that involves both big returns but sometimes involves some risks [of failure] as well.”


8 posted on 09/29/2011 10:34:11 AM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Problem: It’s not working.

Solution: Do more.


9 posted on 09/29/2011 10:35:02 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
“The U.S. can’t afford to not be a major winner in this race,”

Psstt...there is no "race". The entire green tech "race" is a manufactured market with zero prospects for long term survival. All the money is governmental, and the other big player is a government with a command and control economy.

Can we please do something useful with our money (if we must spend it), like open up the market for domestic fossil fuel drilling and exploration?

10 posted on 09/29/2011 10:37:09 AM PDT by Mr. Bird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
Acting Commerce Department Secretary Rebecca Blank

I'm confused. Will Rebecca get a real last name to fill in conce she's confirmed? Or is the awful truth that her middle name is Phillenthe?

11 posted on 09/29/2011 10:38:32 AM PDT by tbpiper (Sarah Palin is the antivenin for the Obama poison)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
Oh I get it - must be required under the “Commerce Clause” of the Constitution.
12 posted on 09/29/2011 10:38:41 AM PDT by Cheerio (Barry Hussein Soetoro-0bama=The Complete Destruction of American Capitalism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Most of the technology is not new. Wind and solar power have been around for decades. The large dollars are not supporting basic research. The large dollars are to support commercialization. The government slush funds have become venture capital, crowding out traditional private risk taking without any accountability.


13 posted on 09/29/2011 10:44:35 AM PDT by businessprofessor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

The problem with government subsidies is that the government is incapable of making good decisions, and doing things without massive corruption.

In a perfect world, subsidizing energy isn’t a bad idea, green or otherwise.


14 posted on 09/29/2011 10:45:11 AM PDT by brownsfan (Aldous Huxley and Mike Judge were right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver
“The U.S. can’t afford to not be a major winner in this race,” Blank said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.

So, flushing $535 million dollars down the biffy, never to be seen again, means that we've won some kind of victory?

Honestly...that's pretty lame, even for a sniveling bureaucrat.
15 posted on 09/29/2011 10:45:41 AM PDT by Milton Miteybad (I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

We have got to get rid of more than just 0bama....


16 posted on 09/29/2011 10:47:34 AM PDT by EBH (God Humbles Nations, Leaders, and Peoples before He uses them for His Purpose)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

The current administration has a gambling addiction.

Analogy: Spending your parents’ SS money on Lotto tickets for an opportunity to win the Mega Millions.


17 posted on 09/29/2011 10:53:21 AM PDT by sodpoodle (God is ignoring me - but He is watching you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

It’s like subsidizing wet dreams, hoping the centerfold will show up at your door.


18 posted on 09/29/2011 10:55:07 AM PDT by G Larry (I dream of a day when a man is judged by the content of his character)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

Stuck on stupid.


19 posted on 09/29/2011 10:56:15 AM PDT by dartuser ("If you are ... what you were ... then you're not.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sub-Driver

“the United States “can’t afford” not to spend taxpayer money on such projects, “

This Sec. has just redefined the United States as the friends and cronys of Obama, period.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/crony-capitalism-737-million-green-jobs-loan-given-nancy-pelosis-brother-law_594593.html

How long you figure it’ll be before Pelosi’s Brother in Law’s Green Pit goes bankrupt like Solyndra did?


20 posted on 09/29/2011 10:57:32 AM PDT by To-Whose-Benefit? (It is Error alone which needs the support of Government. The Truth can stand by itself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson