Subsidizing The Sun -
Introduction
Introduction
| Introduction A few years ago at the New England Solar Energy Association’s Greenhouse Conference I was invited to debate Scott Sklar, the Energy Industries Association Lobbyist, on the question of tax credits. I traveled to Boston from Albuquerque. Scott was to fly up from Washington D.C. Debate time came, but there was no Scott Sklar nor any word from him. Bruce Anderson, conference organizer, publisher of Solar Age magazine and long time advocate of solar subsidies declined to take Scott’s place in the debate, so there was no debate—just my crackpot’s harangue to a curious audience. Anytime now we could have another “energy crisis.” The oil producers could temporarily jack up the price of their product, and our government experts—by means of rationing and subsidies— could once again prevent us from using the market place to decide who gets what. I don’t want to watch them try to subsidize the sun again. I don’t care what the subsidies are to oil, coal or nuclear energy. If you read the following pamphlet you will see why I believe that it is futile to try to subsidize the sun. Our only hope is to take away competing subsidies. What I hate most about our government help is the kind of people it attracts. The “far sighted” environmentalists who prove you need it, the weapons lab scientists who promise to solve the problem for just a few hundred million dollars and, least vile of the three groups, the fast buck artists who peddle the overpriced equipment. Another sidelight I don’t like (actually I have kind of enjoyed it) is becoming a “crackpot” by repeating an obvious truth to people who will not listen. “How can you solar heat a house? Simple—you turn off any auxiliary heating.” This remark of Berry Hickman’s twenty years ago goes to the heart of the question of solar energy and, as you’ll read in Bill Shurcliff’s pieces, leads to some embarassing questions about subsidies. Steve Baer |
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