How funny was Sen. Al Franken this week in trying to justify “clean energy.”
The Washington Times editorializes:
It’s only now becoming clear how many people have become rich thanks to the global-warming scare. Politicians from both parties have been so afraid of being labeled a “denier” that they’ll vote for any piece of legislation bearing the trendy green label. The numbers are adding up fast.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) counted a whopping 641 programs in place at 130 federal agencies in 2010 to prop up windmill technology and underwrite solar panel manufacturers. The report released Tuesday didn’t include a reliable estimate of the total cost to taxpayers. The auditors found the array of loans, tax credits, agency purchases of purportedly green vehicles and the cost of regulations would take a great deal of effort to tally…
Even more important, it’s hard to justify offering any green energy subsidies at all. Sen. Al Franken gave his best effort Tuesday, saying, “The bark beetle is eating more and more of our forests because of climate change.” The Minnesota Democrat added, “Taxpayer dollars are at risk if we don’t address this and try to get to clean energy”…
The phrase “Senator Al Franken” always makes me chuckle…
[shhhhh… I live in Teh Peoples Republic of Minnesota]
OK. If a comedian says it, well it must be true.
The sad part is not the dolts in Washington but the ‘believers’ who sent them there.
I agree, there are a lot of BS programs….
Level the playing field, remove all direct and indirect subsidies, including sweetheart tax treatment of mineral resources, and let the market decide…
I hate when there is a story to some GAO report but no name of the report is given or link the report.
Renewable Energy : Federal Agencies Implement Hundreds of Initiatives GAO-12-260
http://www.gao.gov/assets/590/588876.pdf
Here they are.