In 2013, the federal government spent $13.2 billion on renewable energy subsidies, according to the Institute for Energy Research. While over the past 5 years, the United States has spent an average of $39 billion annually on grants, subsidies, loans, and bail outs for failed “green” energy companies. CFACT at the University of Connecticut wanted to show the student body how much money the world wastes on these corrupt subsides, so they gave students a chance to spin a wheel, where they could land on either “traditional fuels,” “wind power,” or “solar energy.” If they landed on traditional fuels, they won candy and swag. If they landed on solar or wind, they went bankrupt!
“I’m in favor of all energy, but we shouldn’t be throwing billions of dollars at any energy source,” said Paul DaSilva, a senior. “We should let solar and wind compete in the market and let them stand on their own two feet.”
Landing on wind or solar caused the contestant to go bankrupt because countries like Spain spend $1.38 million per green energy job. In Britain, it would take 3,000 wind turbines to match HALF the capacity of a single coal plant. The reward of all this investment? The Energy Information Administration predicts that in 2016, solar will only create 0.6% of the electricity for the United States.
College students are fed the idea that “renewables” are incredibly efficient, and if it wasn’t for greedy oil companies blocking the way, our country could be powered by solar and wind with almost no impact on the environment. This ignores the incredible amount of birds, reptiles, bats, insects and whales that are killed or injured every year by solar and wind. Renewable energy isn’t cheap, it isn’t efficient, and it certainly doesn’t have a good track record for having a low impact on the environment. Perhaps if the massive subsidies were removed companies would be incentivized to compete and innovate as opposed to hiring the best lobbyists.
The outreach game was part of CFACT’s Keep Calm Climate Changes campaign, which aims to bring awareness to the truth behind climate change and renewable energy.