Once Again, Congress Reaches Into Taxpayer Wallets for the Renewable Energy Lobby

“Christmas has come early for the renewable energy lobby, as Congress has once again reached into taxpayers’ wallets to generously subsidize wind, solar, and biofuel producers. Particularly shameful is the year-long extension of the production tax credit for onshore wind, which the industry had promised to phase-out but continues to go back on their word. On the one hand, the wind industry constantly claims they are now the lowest cost option for electricity generation, and on the other, they continue to spend millions lobbying Congress to send them billions in taxpayer subsidies. If wind is such a good deal for electricity generation, why does the industry keep coming back to Congress with their hand out?”
 
“It is a disgrace how Congress operates these days. Both parties do nothing all year long except trade insults and then, in a lame duck session, they leap into bipartisan action by slipping a laundry list of special interest giveaways for their friends on K Street into a year-end must pass bill to fund the federal budget. This year’s winter windfall might be good for wind, solar, biofuels, and an already bloated federal energy bureaucracy, but it is bad for the rest of us.”