They say the closet thing to eternal life is a temporary government subsidy. The reason is because those people interested in getting or perpetuating the subsidy is a relatively small but very active group. And those being taken are the taxpayers, a large, but generally disinterested people.
This came to mind recently when I saw a political ad on TV by the Sierra Club asking northwest Ohio voters to pressure U.S. Rep. Robert Latta to continue the wind power subsidy. The original wind power taxpayer subsidy was put in for 10 years to show that wind power could be competitive with coal and natural gas fuels.
Naturally, after 10 years of effort, wind power has proved it couldn't be competitive. So, the wind power advocates' answer was not closing down the economically unfeasible wind power production, nor forcing its producers to compete on price with coal and natural gas, but to advertise heavily for voters to pressure Congressman Latta to retain the subsidy - indefinitely.
Look, with a large enough government subsidy, I could produce electricity by burning dollar bills as a fuel!
The pro-subsidy group claims wind power results in American jobs, but most windmills are produced in China and wind generators are manufactured in Germany.
In the meantime, the Obama administration has declared war on coal, pledging to force coal producers into bankruptcy. Already, many have filed or are planning to file for bankruptcy.
In Ohio, this will force many high-salaried union employees out of work and onto welfare. And Ohio loses its low-cost power to attract businesses to move to Ohio - and to hire.
Mr. Latta, vote no!
Very truly yours,
Michael B. Lange,
Tiffin
