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I think most Republicans and conservatives were on the same page as me in opposing Democratic administrations that attempt to quash energy sources they dislike (fossil fuels) and subsidize those they like (wind and solar). It seemed the mainstream conservative view was that it's appropriate to have pollution standards, but we ought to let the free market figure out which energy sources worked best, and where. If something is clean enough and the economics work, great, but we shouldn't use the federal government to promote this and stifle that.
Now we have the Trump Administration giving away well over 600 million taxpayer dollars to prop up the coal industry. I'm happy that Donald Trump isn't trying to kill coal the way Obama and Biden were. I'm unhappy that he wants to subsidize coal. And, as usual, President Trump is not asking Congress to pass legislation to do this. He's using the Defense Production Act to do this. Is the Republican Party still a free-market party, or have Republicans decided that government picking winners and losers is fine, as long as they are in charge of it?
Discussion (26)
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National defense and its dependence on a perpetually operative electric grid is a reasonable exception to this view under current conditions. Absolutely a vital element in federal government's role.
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I think ethanol subsidies are worse . . .
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Is sugar still subsidized?
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I have all kinds of electric suppliers sending me notices in the mail promoting clean wind and solar power. I'm waiting for one that says "We use coal, gas, and nukes to give you abundant, reliable, and affordable power".
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And the public utilities that consume much of the products from fossil fuel providers including coal are highly regulated as state utilities so there is already a significant infringement to free market concepts among the coal industry customers.
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