Friday, January 31, 2025

Subsidizing Error

Anthropic CEO Amodei said he was relatively confident that AI technology would surpass human intelligence in the next two or three years.

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Gabbard, Trump’s national intelligence pick, was raised in a religious group tied to a firm suspected of running an international scam. A lot of smear/counter-smear at work in the hearings yesterday.

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The CIA has concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, joining the FBI and Energy Department in identifying a mishap in Wuhan, China, as the virus’s probable source.

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Subsidizing Error

Some numbers from the alternative energy distortion dance.

For decades, the federal government has propped up energy sources and technologies through subsidies and tax credits. From 2010 to 2023, the cumulative cost of these policies was $76 billion and $65 billion for solar and wind power, respectively, and $33 billion for oil and gas. Nuclear energy, meanwhile, received about $26 billion.

Not only have these subsidies been costly for taxpayers, but they have also proven ineffective in changing the energy landscape. Despite receiving more than twice the amount of money as fossil fuels and nuclear power since 2010, wind and solar only generated 10.2 percent and 3.9 percent of the country's electricity in 2023, respectively.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) supercharged subsidies for wind and solar energy while introducing new technology-specific tax credits for green hydrogen, nuclear power, sustainable aviation fuel, and more. Additionally, it established a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles (E.V.s) assembled in North America. Households earning less than $300,000 and individuals earning less than $150,000 are also eligible for the one-time clean vehicle credit.

Initially projected at $369 billion over the next 10 years, these subsidies are now expected to add over $1 trillion to the federal deficit through 2032. And, with some provisions lacking an expiration date, this figure could feasibly reach $3 trillion.

Billions of dollars worth of solar and wind provisions have gone to companies like NextEra Energy—the world's largest utility company—and Chinese solar manufacturers.

Tax credits for EVs have been mostly cashed in by wealthy consumers who would have bought an electric vehicle without the credit anyway. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research estimates that every E.V. sold because of the IRA's credit costs taxpayers $32,000. $32,000.

Subsidies for wind and solar energy can cost up to $260 and $2,100, respectively, for every ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced. For context, reforestation and tree planting cost about $10 per ton of CO2 reduced.

Just because a project is heartfelt and expensive does not mean it has value.

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