The government has shelled out around $150 billion to buck up solar power and other green energy projects over the last five years, a new report says, though solar is only expected to contribute a tiny percentage of U.S. electricity generation.
According to a report by the anti-government waste group
Taxpayer Protection Alliance (TPA), there were at least 345 different federal initiatives supporting solar energy five years ago — and through last year, the federal government spent $150 billion, or an average $39 billion a year — to subsidize them.
The Daily Caller compared the average $39 billion a year outlay on renewable energy projects with the State Department's $2.7 billion budget last year for U.S. embassy security, construction, and maintenance.
The spending spree springs from a 2009 stimulus package that offered $51 billion in spending for green energy projects, including funding for solar boondoggles from companies like
Solyndra and Abound Solar, both of which went bankrupt,
the TPA report notes.
"Government has attempted to support the solar industry by picking winners and losers in the marketplace, often failing miserably in the process," according to the report.
"There remains nearly unfettered access to public money by companies in the solar energy field and the limited risk assumed by businesses in the alternative energy arena due to governmental support leaves the industry is rife with poor decision-making and unseemly business practices."
An
Energy Information Administration prediction states solar power will only generate 0.7 percent of the total electricity generated in the U.S. in 2016.
Green energy supporters argue subsidies help the country diversify its energy portfolio and become less reliant on foreign oil.
"From coast to coast, solar is having a huge impact on both our economy and environment," Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, told The Daily Caller.
"Today, the solar industry employs nearly 175,000 Americans and pumps more than $15 billion a year into the U.S. economy — and we’re just scratching the surface of our enormous potential."
But the TPA concluded there's been too much money spent to too little effect.
"Solar energy's day in the sun may yet to come, but taxpayers should not be forced to foot the cost associated with turning the failing industry around," the report concludes. "Solar energy must be asked to stand on its own, powered exclusively by private investment and initiative."
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