300 years ago - it was the king's army that kept power in the hands of the king. Today, the oilies are the kings and they will NOT let any one take the power away ... whether it's solar, geothermal, wind, etc. They will buy FUD advertising and mental midgets will buy into the FUD, sad to say. .
I am going to take the oil company side of this argument, strange as it sounds. If the US gov passes a law forcing the oil companies to add Etoh to fuel, why should the cost be borne by the company ?
Lead-free paint is more expensive, I don't see us having to subsidize paint products so that toys are less expensive. The market bears the (extra) cost.
True Mark, but I can give lots of counter examples. Community services like police, education, and the fire dept come to mind. Not quite analogous, you say ? OK, how about tax credits for producing PV energy ?
Lost me on that one. Is there a law limiting what an oil company charges for it's product? The law requires me to wear clothes. Never seen any reimbursement for that.
Your right, of course. Since the oilies have so much wealth, they can buy politicians on both sides of the spectrum ... funding their election/re-election war chests. With that favor paid, the politicians are now beholding to their puppet master. Thus, politicians write laws that limit safety procedures on wells (deep water & otherwise) ... write laws that permit drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) ... write laws that limit alternative fuel sources (no need for competition, because if YOUR commodity becomes more scarce, then YOU, the oilies can charge even higher prices) ... write laws that keep you in the Persian Gulf (under the banner of 'freedom' of course) and on and on. SOME folks think their legislators are passing laws for the good of John Q. Public. Some folks though have a better understanding of reality.
