A common question is: how many times has the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind power production been extended since the original law was enacted in 1992.

The answer is a dirty dozen, which makes the federal lifeline to wind power 28 years old. That’s old age for a government subsidy, particularly one where the industry itself has long proclaimed its impending competitiveness.

“The U.S. wind industry has … demonstrated reliability and performance levels that make them very competitive,” stated a representative of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) back in 1986. [1] And Joe Romm a quarter-century later: “It is clear that solar and wind are competitive in many situations right now.” [2]

And so Milton Friedman’s warning that infant industries receiving government protection never seem to grow up has a stellar example.…

The Grayzone is self-described as “an independent news and politics website dedicated to investigative journalism and analysis on war and empire.” While far Left, even socialistic, “The Grayzone is a totally independent journalistic initiative that does not take money from any government or government-backed group or individual.”

The article follows:

‘Green’ billionaires behind professional activist network that led suppression of ‘Planet of the Humans’ documentary

MAX BLUMENTHAL·BIG TECHNON-PROFIT INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX·SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

The Michael Moore-produced ‘Planet of the Humans’ faced a coordinated suppression campaign led by professional climate activists backed by the same ‘green’ billionaires, Wall Street investors, industry insiders and family foundations skewered in the film.

By Max Blumenthal

“We must take control of our environmental movement and our future from billionaires and their permanent war on Planet Earth.…

Editor Note: This post completes a three-part series with Part I on Biofuels and Solar and Part II on Wind Turbines.

“The world cannot afford to let delusion, dishonesty, ideology, or deliberate deception drive public policies that will determine our future jobs, prosperity, living standards, and civilization. What Salt Lake City’s UN conference discussed has nothing to do with real sustainability, resource conservation or recycling.”

“UN-supported policies are unjust, inhumane, eco-imperialist and lethal…. [T]he climate change-sustainability agenda that is being advanced by UN and other activists and bureaucrats is eco-fascist, totalitarian and racist.”

Yet another educational exercise for UN conference attendees would be to calculate the land, energy and raw materials required to manufacture and install the batteries necessary to make renewable energy dispatchable. In the process, they would need to add in the raw material requirements for batteries required to replace all the world’s cars, trucks and buses with electric vehicles – and recharge them every few hours.…

“Why should utility customers continue to pay for bad programs that increase their rates at the benefit of a few? We should be mindful of the words of Milton Friedman:  ‘One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.’ “

In the real world, “free lunches” that benefit society are as rare as snow in Phoenix. Even when given a free meal, one often has to listen to an often boring sales pitch or speech.

Only in fantasy land are socially-beneficial “free lunches” ubiquitous. As one example, Amory Lovins once remarked that energy efficiency is the “lunch you are paid to eat.” Using the label “no-regrets,” policymakers frequently push actions that they endorse as unequivocally good – everyone wins, no one loses.…