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The federal government already has a variety of subsidy programs for renewable energy and more money is a part of most of the presidential candidates platforms.
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Subsidy = Crap
These renewable energy sources require subsidies because they are crappy sources of energy... The energy they produce reletive to their capital cost is pathetically low. Without subsidies, these renewable energy sources would NEVER be used except by a handfull of diehard hippies. And even then, they would be lucky lucky to generate enough energy to light up their bong pipes.....
Take ethanol. This crappy cource of energy requires tons of subsidies.
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Someone please get us a copy of the O Rly owl.
By now, those of us who have been around a while know that Felix often posts on topics where he has no [censored] idea what he's talking about. For any of you newcomers out here that may be making the mistake of taking this post seriously, please google "Brazil" and "ethanol" and be educated on how unreliable these kinds of posts can be.
Felix and those of his ilk post EXACTLY like shills for the oil companies whose mission is to engage in a massive wealth transfer from consumers and other industries to big oil, to the ultimate detriment of the country as a whole....EXACTLY....so are these posters traitors? Probably not....just stupid...
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Whoa, easy there. You can review all my posts and find that I almost never agree with Felix, but I think he's right about this.
Tell me why, if ethanol or ANY other renewable energy source is ready to take on oil, it has to be massively subsidized WHILE taxing oil? There is huge money to be made for anybody who can come up with a competitive energy source. They don't need our tax money. They just need ideas, innovation, and working capital - which private companies and venture capital groups have in spades.
The truth is, there are no alternative sources RIGHT NOW, and subsidizing things will only slow down our efforts to find/produce reliable alternatives. If ethanol can eventually compete with crude oil, then great! But let's not sink BILLIONS into something to make it look like it's our energy savior when really it's not.
I don't think anybody here would be adverse to having their own solar units replacing their power meter, but let's not pretend that heavy government subsidies to sub-standard oil alternatives are a great idea.
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We've been through the arguments before regarding why corn based ethanol is not feasible. The amount of land needed to provide for U.S. energy needs is astounding. All kinds of data on how farm land has risen and the price of corn has I believe more than doubled. If the politicians were sincerely looking for an alternative to gasoline they'd lift the protective tariff from imported ethanol.
Study: U.S. near corn-based ethanol tipping point