Green Energy Corporate Welfare

On page 5 of my Wall Street Journal this morning, and page 7 of my Washington Post, a full-page ad for Wells Fargo bannersWells Fargo and NextEra Energy join together to fuel  low-carbon economy throughout the U.S. Meanwhile, the front page of my JournalannouncesGreen-Power King Thrives on Government SubsidiesThe article explains that NextEra Energyhas grown into a green Goliath, almost entirely under the radar, not through taking on heavy debt to expand or by touting its greenness, but by relentlessly capitalizing on government support for renewable energy, in particular the tax subsidies that help finance  wind and solar projects around the country. It then sells the output to utilities, many of which must procure power from green sources to meet state mandates.And also:While environmentalists applaud NextEra ’s commitment to building wind and solar farms outside Florida, they have criticized what they see as its attempts to slow the deployment of rooftop solar inside Florida  where it would directly compete with its utility business.As Wells Fargo tries to rescue its reputation after itsaccount scandals, maybe it should forgo bragging about helping a company get heavy subsidies in order to sell its products to compelled buyers. Maybe as part of its apology and restitution, it should swear off participating in taxpayer-subsidized projects, asBB&T in 2006 vowed not to lend to projects that relied on eminent domain.Would NextEra even be profitable without all these su...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 19, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs