Topic: Liberal Fascism
The collapse of the government-mandated “green energy” revolution hasn’t fazed some of its starry-eyed fans—leftie pundette Froma Harrop, for instance. Here she is, still going gaga over green, post-Solyndra:
Did we hear the word "Solyndra"? Solyndra is the California solar-panel maker that declared bankruptcy after receiving over $500 million in federal loan guarantees. A scandal brews over reports of Solyndra's alleged political favor-seeking. One concern centers on a high Energy Department official who pushed for the loan while his lawyer-wife represented the company.
House Republicans are investigating the Solyndra deal, as they should. But again, while the public financing process may not have been spotless, the company's innovative technology was the real deal. Solyndra had developed panels that didn't use silicon, then an expensive substance. A later glut of solar panels—with China possibly selling them here below cost—ended Solyndra's price advantage and put it out of business.
Translating this verbiage into standard English yields the information that Chinese-produced solar panels are cheaper than US-produced solar panels, thanks (1) to much lower labor costs in China and (2) massive government subsidization of the Chinese solar-panel industry. As for Solyndra’s “innovative technology,” the “real deal” is that it couldn’t prevent the company from going belly up at a cost to the US taxpayer of over $500 million. Because of solar power’s low efficiency and unreliability, it will never be more than a niche product in the energy market—a fact that escaped green-besotted Obama Administration.
The mania for all things “green” is a useful pointer to the intellectual corruption of contemporary progressivism. Rigorous analysis? Economic realities? Plain common sense? Invisible through those green-tinted glasses!
