Showing posts with label Subsidy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Subsidy. Show all posts

Monday, October 18, 2010

Net Neutrality, Clean Tech And Political Fights

Solúcar PS10 es una planta solar termoeléctric...Image via Wikipedia
Wired: What Solar Needs: Its Own Karl Rove: Eighty percent of Americans rated solar power favorably, compared to 39 percent for nuclear and 32 percent for oil. Seventy-four percent believe that solar is a “long-term solution for the country’s energy needs.” ..... 94 percent of Americans see solar as important and 80 percent want to see subsidies transferred from fossil fuel to solar...... Unfortunately, the public also said solar is too expensive, will remain an intermittent source of power, and can’t really directly compete with coal or natural gas. Only 41 percent thought solar was affordable, and only 34 percent thought it was reliable..... Seventeen percent said solar would “never” be the largest source of new electricity for whole cities. Most of those polled were largely in the dark about the subsidies provided to oil and gas. Just 19 percent correctly estimated that the fossil fuel industry gets more than $10 billion in subsidies.
Freedom is not free. The trucking industry killed trains in this country decades ago, and the country is still reeling from it. The best does not always get done because this is a democracy. The people have to actively make the choice, and if they don't actively opt for the best, they don't get the best. Because this is a democracy.