The Cato Institute is airing a podcast called “How Not to Subsidize Renewable Energy” that explains how “The renewable portfolio standard subsidizes renewable energy in states via higher energy costs for low-income people.”
As Locker Room readers know, the disproportionate impact against the poor (also known as “green energy poverty”) is one of the worst unintended consequences of all the government mandates, subsidizes, incentives, and other cronyism for demonstrably unsustainable energy like solar and wind.
The podcast title is descriptive, but part of me wants to make it broader. I want to take out “How” and “Renewable” so that it makes a bold statement of “Not to Subsidize Energy.” That’s because I view not subsidizing any energy source as the best way to keep the way clear to promote competition, technological innovation, and other cost-lowering efficiencies among energy sources — which is good for all consumers, but especially the poor.