Obama Vows to Waste More Taxpayer Money on "Green" Energy

President Obama announced today that the US government should support "clean energy", while dropping tax subsidies given to the oil and gas industry.

"Seeking opportunity in a crisis, Obama argued for action in Congress as crews struggled into a seventh week to contain BP's mangled oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. He urged lawmakers to shift the tax-break money toward clean-energy research and approve a major energy bill, now stalled in the Senate, that would slap a price on carbon emissions.

"Our continued dependence on fossil fuels will jeopardize our national security," he declared. "It will smother our planet. And it will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk."

I couldn't agree more with him that subsidies given to oil and gas companies should cease. However, the solution is not to redirect that same taxpayer money to "green" energy companies.

The government should not be in the business of deciding winners and losers in the energy business, but rather should stay out of the way and certainly should not steal the money of hard-working Americans (via the income tax) to subsidize investors in energy companies.

If the "green" energy pioneers are willing to embrace the free market and ultimately convince Americans to buy their product (through superior performance of conventional energy, lower prices, etc.), then all the reward and inducement they need will be evident as profits flow in. On the other hand, if they're not able to create a viable market for their product, then that's all the evidence needed that they weren't worthy of any support in the first place.