Solar energy would help a lot

Posted on December 29th, 2009 by ecthompson

I don’t talk about alternative energy enough. I need to do a better job. I’ll start with this article about solar energy.

From Common Dreams:

Solar power technologies could generate 15 percent of America’s power in 10 years, but only if Washington levels the playing field on subsidies, a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says.

That means either rolling back fossil fuel subsidies, as President Obama proposed earlier this year, or increasing subsidies for clean energy, the association says.

Fossil fuels received $72 billion in total federal subsidies from 2002 to 2008, keeping prices artificially low, according to figures from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). About 98 percent of that went to conventional energy sources, namely coal and oil, leading to more emissions. The rest, $2.3 billion, was pumped into a new technology to trap and store carbon dioxide spewed by coal plants.

During that same period, solar got less than $1 billion, according to the SEIA, a trade group representing 1,100 solar companies across the nation.

I’m not sure that trading one industry who’s in on the public dime for another is a winning strategy.

Tags: Energy // View Comments

  • ecthompson
    What do we do with the nuclear waste? Until we answer that question, I think the nuclear discussion is at a standstill. I won't even go into the enormous costs of nuclear power plants. By the way, I really support nuclear power but we have to answer the fundamental question of what do we do with the waste. If you want to put it in a mountain in Arizona and the good residents of Arizona say it's okay then I'm fine with that. Unfortunately, that's not what I found in this nuclear discussion. Nobody wants to nuclear waste in their backyard.
  • ecthompson
    I'm not sure that I get your drift. Steven Levitt is a opportunist. He's a very smart opportunist but an opportunist nonetheless. He has added very little to the public discourse that is of substance. With two best-selling books, he has added money to his bank account but I don't think that there are any revelations in most of his books.
  • Solar according to the &qu
    Doc ET,

    You really think solar energy could be helpful? Didn't you know that solar panels are black and therefore absorb more heat than they will save? Why, just listen to engineering climate experts Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner! ,

    Check it out.
  • ecthompson
    What do we do with the nuclear waste? Until we answer that question, I think the nuclear discussion is at a standstill. I won't even go into the enormous costs of nuclear power plants. By the way, I really support nuclear power but we have to answer the fundamental question of what do we do with the waste. If you want to put it in a mountain in Arizona and the good residents of Arizona say it's okay then I'm fine with that. Unfortunately, that's not what I found in this nuclear discussion. Nobody wants to nuclear waste in their backyard.
  • ecthompson
    I'm not sure that I get your drift. Steven Levitt is a opportunist. He's a very smart opportunist but an opportunist nonetheless. He has added very little to the public discourse that is of substance. With two best-selling books, he has added money to his bank account but I don't think that there are any revelations in most of his books.
  • Solar according to the "E
    Doc ET,

    You really think solar energy could be helpful?  Didn't you know that solar panels are black and therefore absorb more heat than they will save?  <a href="http://newsaffair.info/?p=127">Why, just listen to engineering climate experts Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner! </a>,

    Check it out.
  • MH
    Who is going to pay for them to be built? They cost huge amounts of money and take enormous amounts of water. Utah is fighting to keep medium level waste out of our state from Italy. Do you want one in your back yard. I will however take a no waste solar panel or wind powered energy farm in my back yard.
  • MH
    And where are you going to dispose of the nuclear waste? That is the real problem along with melt downs and transporting the waste and the rail cars becoming targets for terrorists.
  • MH
    Who is going to pay for them to be built? They cost huge amounts of money and take enormous amounts of water. Utah is fighting to keep medium level waste out of our state from Italy. Do you want one in your back yard. I will however take a no waste solar panel or wind powered energy farm in my back yard.
  • Joe White
    American could get over 80% of our electricity from nuclear power if we simply got off the dime and did it.
  • MH
    And where are you going to dispose of the nuclear waste? That is the real problem along with melt downs and transporting the waste and the rail cars becoming targets for terrorists.
  • Joe White
    American could get over 80% of our electricity from nuclear power if we simply got off the dime and did it.
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