2011-11-11
The oil industry in the United States receives about $2.3 billion in government subsidies every year. Why? Because they can't make a profit? Obviously not. Because they are good to the environment? Obviously not. Because they contribute to national defense, our cultural heritage, anything, anything at all other than the profits of their investors?
The oil industry gets this money because the rich owners of oil companies have lunch with your congressman frequently and contribute to his re-election campaign so he can run ads telling you how he will go to Washington and clean up all that corruption and perversion, with the help of that corporate jet supplied by BP.
Did you get your share? Not likely. But if you are GE or Goldman-Sachs, you will get your share of government largesse: they are collecting hundreds of millions of dollars to build alternative energy farms. Now, a normal business takes a risk and invests in a certain technology and, if it's leaders are wise and diligent, they will make a profit. And then they will tell you that they should pay less tax on their large profits than you pay on your meager earnings, because, they'll say, they take risks, and they create jobs, and they are the engines of growth.
Except that, as in the case of the NRG Solar Ranch in the California Valley, which has received nearly $1.6 billion in government subsidies. Which is pretty well 100% of the cost of the project. NRG has also obtained a guarantee that the government will buy it's power at a certain fixed price guaranteed to ensure a very healthy profit for NRG, possibly as high as 50%.
Are you getting your share? Not if you work for a living. But if you invest, you might be. And you can see why we need less government regulation-- my goodness! It's just strangling those businesses!