Free Republic

Halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, on a former cattle ranch and gypsum mine, NRG Energy is building an engineering marvel: a compound of nearly a million solar panels that will produce enough electricity to power about 100,000 homes. The project is also a marvel in another, less obvious way: Taxpayers and ratepayers are providing subsidies worth almost as much as the entire $1.6 billion cost of the project. Similar subsidy packages have been given to 15 other solar- and wind-power electric plants since 2009. The government support — which includes loan guarantees, cash grants and contracts that require...

The left can't "hide the decline" in world temperatures for much longer. Knowing public faith in global warming is on the wane, President Obama was determined to adapt his message Tuesday night. The BP oil spill is now the reason to boost the subsidies to his friends who make windmills and solar panels. Mr. Obama expressed his support for legislation that "finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America's businesses." Of course, that's because wind, solar and other inefficient forms of power generation will never be "profitable" without the hand of the federal government extracting money from...

The Great Spain Energy Plan by Alex Adrianson, The Heritage Foundation Spain’s Renewable Energy Boondoggle A funny thing about President Barack Obama’s suggestion that we look to Spain for guidance on energy policy: Spain’s experience reveals that green energy is a job killer, not a job creator. In January, President Obama urged a rally in Ohio: “Think of what’s happening in countries like Spain, Germany and Japan, where they’re making real investments in renewable energy. They’re surging ahead of us, poised to take the lead in these new industries.” But Gabriel Calzado of Spain’s Rey Juan Carlos University calculates that...

“Voters want action on energy,” one congresswoman told The Washington Post. “They don’t really care how much it costs.” A Democratic president was on the verge of signing “the most important energy legislation in a decade,” with tens of billions of dollars dedicated to jump-starting a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels and helping the United States achieve “energy independence.” For too long, most analysts agreed, America had put off the hard choices necessary to prevent the next oil shock and wean the country from petrodictators in the Middle East. Now was the time for bold investment and leadership from Washington.The...

WASHINGTON – The Senate has endorsed using revenues from controversial cap-and-trade auctions of permits for emitting greenhouse gases to help consumers pay higher gasoline and electricity prices. The 54-43 vote Tuesday is nonbinding.