Sen. Alexander: Forget ‘Big Oil,’ cut tax breaks for ‘Big Wind’
By Andrew Restuccia
A day after the Senate rejected legislation to slash subsidies for “Big Oil,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said it’s time to consider eliminating tax breaks for “Big Wind.”
“My colleagues want to talk about ‘Big Oil’ all week. I think we ought to be talking about ‘Big Wind,’” Alexander said during a Senate Appropriations hearing on the Energy Department’s budget. (E2 Wire)
Lawrence Solomon: Renewables now bigger than nuclear
The world now has more renewable electricity capacity than nuclear capacity, according to a recent report from the Worldwatch Institute. According to its World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010–2011, just four types of renewables — wind, small-scale hydro, solar, and biomass – accounted for 381 gigawatts (GW) of capacity at the end of 2010, edging past nuclear power’s 375 GW of capacity.
The renewables have supplanted nuclear in another way, too – they have become a bigger recipient of government favours than nuclear, formerly #1 among those on the dole. Without government subsidies, the world would have virtually no electricity generation capacity from either of these renewables or from nuclear –neither meet the test of a competitive free market. (Financial Post)
