Wind Power Subsides Highest of All Energy Sources

What's happening here is just more insanity from the progressive lift socialist Democrats forcing their idea of energy production on the rest of the world. That it's completely destructive makes no difference. That it forces up the cost of energy, including gasoline, and destroys the budgets of most families means nothing.

It's the agenda matters. The progressive socialist agenda is, and has always been, to force people into a state of dependence and what a good way to do this is to make the cost of living so high that the population must reallocated their resources from expansion of their life style to one of just survival.

If you don't believe this, ask your self what the price of gas is now and what it was four years ago? How about the price of food and cloths. But wait, there is a commodity that has gone down in the last 4 years, the equity in your house.

Just remember how this happened who was responsible when you enter the voting booth this November. You will be the determination of an America with a future or an America without a future. Will you find out on January 1 that the cost of living just went up more then an time in our history that will drive you and your family in perpetual mediocrity, or will you see new opportunities to improve your lot in life and that of your family.

You choose.

Subsidizing Big Wind: The Real Costs to Taxpayers

Source: Robert Bryce, "Subsidizing Big Wind: The Real Costs to Taxpayers," Manhattan Institute, October 2012.


October 15, 2012
Compared to other industries, big wind receives the most lavish support from the federal government. In addition to direct subsidies, the industry is given a subsidy at the state level in the form of mandates for renewable energy consumption. Another indirect subsidy: the exemption that the wind industry has been given with regard to enforcement of federal wildlife laws, according to Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

The Production Tax Credit (PTC) is the direct subsidy that gives wind energy producers 2.2 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they produce. Compared in terms of per-British thermal unit (BTU) basis as well as total energy produced, the wind industry receives more support than any other energy source in the sector.

•The oil and gas sector receives $1.9 billion in subsidies per year.
•This amounts to $0.03 per million BTU of energy.
•But the wind industry receives a subsidy of $6.44 per million BTU produced.
•The nuclear industry received $900 million in subsidies in 2011, which works out to $238 per barrel of oil equivalent per day.
•At that level, the wind industry is getting nearly 6.5 times as much in subsidies as the nuclear industry.

States also mandate that a certain portion of electricity come from renewable sources, which gives wind power an advantage over traditional forms of energy. This imposes higher costs on consumers, who have to pay for the higher costs of new transmission lines that can accommodate wind energy.

Proponents of subsidies for the wind industry often argue that the jobs created by wind companies justify the cost. The American Wind Energy Association has claimed only 37,000 jobs would be lost if the PTC is not extended. Yet the cost of extending the PTC would be $12.18 billion from 2013 to 2022, or $329,000 per job.

The most egregious example of how far the government is willing to go to subsidize the wind industry is in its exemption of prosecuting companies for killing federally protected birds. For example, thousands of birds are killed every year by the wind turbines at Altamont in California without repercussion. Environmental groups are beginning to coalesce around the issue and lobby the government for more protection of animals. However, the Obama administration, like the Bush administration, has not prosecuted the wind industry for violating the laws.