Obama’s new energy rules try to increase the presence of renewable energy and decrease the energy cost to consumers. If it seems too good to be true, you’re right. Below are five facts to arm yourself with on Obama’s Clean Power Plan.
1. Renewables Will Not Cost Less
The Obama administration claims that wind and solar are cheaper to produce than coal and natural gas, but they ignore that renewables already receive more than 50 times more subsidy support than conventional coal. Talk about government excess. If renewables are so cheap, why do they need so much government support?
2. Energy Bills Will Rise
Countries like Denmark, which have pursued similar policies to the Clean Power Plan, have seen energy bills skyrocket. While Denmark produces 20% of its energy from renewables, consumers pay energy bills that are 3 times as high as those in the United States. Still struggling to see how this plan is supposed to make utility bills more affordable? Yeah, us too.
3. Jobs Will Be Lost
It is also claimed that increased investment in renewables will create jobs in the green energy industry, but this too is a farce. Over the past 8 years Spain spent $791,597 in subsidies to create each green energy job, and more than $1.38 million per wind energy job. Each job these subsidies “created” cost 2.2 jobs in other sectors of the economy. In Italy, each green job cost between 4.8 and 6.9 jobs elsewhere. Ouch.
4. Wind Energy is not Efficient
In 2011 British wind turbines only produced 21% of installed capacity (not demand capacity) during good conditions. A single coal plant could produce almost twice as much electricity as all of Britain’s 3,000 wind turbines combined. Well hey, natural vistas look better with giant spinning blades planted all over them anyways so…
5. California Pays More Than Rest of USA
California is always the environmentalist’s go to example when touting renewable energy. What you want to bring up in response is that over the past 3 years Cali’s electricity rates have risen to 4 times what the rest of the country pays. The state currently mandates that renewables provide 33% of the state’s electricity by 2020. It is proposed that the state require 50% of the state’s electricity be from renewables by 2030. This is just going to hurt the lower and middle class the worst.
The evidence is clear, the Clean Power Plan throws consumers under the bus.