[–] Grospoliner 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
Cool. Now maybe the hippies can stop pretending that it's the be all end all and we can have a resilient infrastructure system that incorporates both solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear to ensure a robust service that produces less waste.
The only remaining major federal solar subsidy would not apply here. It's a consumer end tax rebate. Even that is set to automatically expire in 2021.
But I do think we should absolutely start rolling back all energy subsidies. I don't think Trump will likely even consider this, but it's getting kind of silly. This is a nonexhaustive list of some subsidies we currently spend on oil. It's pretty insane. Dig an oil well and the company doing so gets a 100% tax break. They also get 15% of their oil income 100% tax free, and more. The only relevant federal solar subsidy is consumers getting a time-limited 30% tax rebate (again not even a refund) on solar installations - the company gets nothing directly though the lower price for consumers obviously works as a favorable incentive.
Anyhow, yeah - I do think if we rolled back all energy subsidies renewables would look even more appealing. However, I'd wager pretty heavily that Trump won't touch oil subsidies. Our economy is effectively backed on oil in large part due to the petro dollar. Oil would be in some trouble without all the subsidies it receives and that in turn could have a ripple effect on our economy. This is also just looking at the merit and ignoring things like Trump picking Exxon's CEO for secretary of state indicating he might have some sort of a personal bias towards oil for whatever reason.
[–] derram 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
https://archive.is/JxNQ7 :
'A transformation is happening in global energy markets that’s worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity. '
'The latest BNEF projections call for 70 gigawatts of newly installed solar in 2016 compared with 59 gigawatts of wind. '
'Still, the buildup of wind and solar takes time, and fossil fuels remain the cheapest option for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. '
'Auctions, where private companies compete for massive contracts to provide electricity, established record after record for cheap solar power. '
'This has happened in isolated projects in the past: an especially competitive auction in the Middle East, for example, resulting in record-cheap solar costs. '
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