Tuesday, May 05, 2009

MIsguided Faith in Renewable Energy

Robert Samuelson tackles the Obama administration's misguided energy policy in his Washington Post column today.

Taking aim at the president's overconfidence in the wonders of wind and solar energy, Samuelson points out that the overt bias against domestic oil production simply does not make sense. Here's an excerpt:

In 2007, wind and solar generated less than 1 percent of U.S. electricity. Even a tenfold expansion will leave their contribution small. By contrast, oil and natural gas now provide two-thirds of Americans' energy....

Encouraging more U.S. [oil] production would also aid economic recovery, because the promise of "green jobs" is wildly exaggerated. Consider: In 2008, the oil and gas industries employed 1.8 million people. Jobs in the solar and wind industries are reckoned (by their trade associations) to be 35,000 and 85,000, respectively.

Read Samuelson's column and pass it on. We need to inject some reality into Obama's pipe dream energy policy.