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I wonder to what degree this is motivated by an attempt to stifle the expansion of renewable energy. I sometimes get the impression that the "conservative" posi

I wonder to what degree this is motivated by an attempt to stifle the expansion of renewable energy. I sometimes get the impression that the "conservative" position has morphed from "cheap energy is good for the economy" to "Coal power, even if it's more expensive than solar or wind, just to annoy the environmentalists". Note that this isn't about "dumping" (selling below costs), but a much weaker WTO provision allowing to temporarily slow down the pace of change to allow the domestic industry to adapt.

coltonv 9y ago
It's not because they want to annoy environmentalists, the republican party just receives a massive amount of campaign funding and lobbying from the oil industry. They do stuff like this and deny climate change because if they don't they'll lose a significant chunk of campaign funding and the oil Giants will just back another candidate in the primary. Democrats are guilty of this too, but oil primarily goes after Republicans.
- tbabb 9y ago
  Also interesting/telling: all of a sudden the republicans are against "free market" trade here.
  - mowenz 9y ago
    >all of sudden US politicians have been awful about this for a long time. We have tarrifs on an embarassing number of things from cheese to sneakers to auto parts... While we scold and bully other countries for their own protectionists policies and tell them to 'do as I day, not as I do,' and open their borders.
BrainInAJar 9y ago
American conservatism has morphed in to just doing whatever pisses off liberals, even if it's foolish.
- jellicle 9y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal
  - emiliobumachar 9y ago
    Wow, I did learn something today. "Rolling coal is a form of conspicuous air pollution, for entertainment or for protest."
    - sten 9y ago
      Not without precedent. Salting the earth?
      - zzalpha 9y ago
        That was done for military strategic purposes, not simply for the lulz.
        maxerickson 9y ago
        It probably only really happened for the lulz, as a ceremonial curse. They didn't have (literal) tons of salt to waste on spite.
        sten 9y ago
        Symbolically destroying small amounts of resources and depriving yourself and family of a clean environment to essentially complain. Hmm maybe scorched earth is the better description of whats going on here? Salting the earth is done by the aggressor, scorching the earth is done by the retreating party. I think it still fits.
  - e40 9y ago
    There are quite a few youtube videos of people leaving a Prius in a cloud of black smoke. That conservatives find this amusing is just horrific.
justavoice 9y ago
FTFA - "While imports have risen, U.S. producers have seen business shrivel, with 1,200 manufacturing jobs lost and a 27 percent wage decline in the four years to 2016. U.S. solar cell plants went from running at 81.7 percent of capacity in 2014 to 28.9 percent in 2016, the filing said." So, this happened during Obama's administration...
Lagged2Death 9y ago
The Obama administration was pro-solar, so the GOP had to be, has been, anti-solar. Remember the Solyndra "scandal." It's not about "annoying the environmentalists" per see, it's about motivating those voters who do get revved up about annoying the environmentalists. That's certainly not the only reason but it would be naïve to wave it away at this point. As the article points out, the situation we find ourselves in has been years in the making. US PV production has actually been in decline just as PV is starting to make sense.
- tyingq 9y ago
  >Remember the Solyndra "scandal" The rest of your comment rings true with me. Why the quotes on scandal though? It certainly didn't work out well for taxpayers. Half a billion in government loan guarantees gone. Edit: Politics aside, Solyndra falsified information on their loan application, were raided by the FBI, and skewered in an IG report. It sounds like a scandal just on their part alone.
  - redblacktree 9y ago
    500m is 0.008% of the 6.5 trillion unaccounted for at the pentagon[0]. Why did we make such a big deal out of Solyndra, while overlooking a problem about 3 orders of magnitude larger? I think the scare quotes are warranted. Solyndra was only a big deal because a Democratic administration did it. [0]: http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part2 http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part2
    - tyingq 9y ago
      Trying to leave politics out of it. The FBI raid, and IG report seem to indicate "scandal" is fair. That is, on Solyndra's part.
  - nate_meurer 9y ago
    Overall, it's actually worked out very well for taxpayers. The program that provided the Solyndra loans has made billions of dollars for the government, with a very low loss ratio: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-can-t-kill-solyndra-loan-program-that-outperforms-banks https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-can...

coltonv 9y ago

It's not because they want to annoy environmentalists, the republican party just receives a massive amount of campaign funding and lobbying from the oil industry. They do stuff like this and deny climate change because if they don't they'll lose a significant chunk of campaign funding and the oil Giants will just back another candidate in the primary. Democrats are guilty of this too, but oil primarily goes after Republicans.

tbabb 9y ago
Also interesting/telling: all of a sudden the republicans are against "free market" trade here.
- mowenz 9y ago
  >all of sudden US politicians have been awful about this for a long time. We have tarrifs on an embarassing number of things from cheese to sneakers to auto parts... While we scold and bully other countries for their own protectionists policies and tell them to 'do as I day, not as I do,' and open their borders.

BrainInAJar 9y ago

American conservatism has morphed in to just doing whatever pisses off liberals, even if it's foolish.

jellicle 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal
- emiliobumachar 9y ago
  Wow, I did learn something today. "Rolling coal is a form of conspicuous air pollution, for entertainment or for protest."
  - sten 9y ago
    Not without precedent. Salting the earth?
    - zzalpha 9y ago
      That was done for military strategic purposes, not simply for the lulz.
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        It probably only really happened for the lulz, as a ceremonial curse. They didn't have (literal) tons of salt to waste on spite.
        sten 9y ago
        Symbolically destroying small amounts of resources and depriving yourself and family of a clean environment to essentially complain. Hmm maybe scorched earth is the better description of whats going on here? Salting the earth is done by the aggressor, scorching the earth is done by the retreating party. I think it still fits.
- e40 9y ago
  There are quite a few youtube videos of people leaving a Prius in a cloud of black smoke. That conservatives find this amusing is just horrific.

justavoice 9y ago

FTFA - "While imports have risen, U.S. producers have seen business shrivel, with 1,200 manufacturing jobs lost and a 27 percent wage decline in the four years to 2016. U.S. solar cell plants went from running at 81.7 percent of capacity in 2014 to 28.9 percent in 2016, the filing said." So, this happened during Obama's administration...

Lagged2Death 9y ago

The Obama administration was pro-solar, so the GOP had to be, has been, anti-solar. Remember the Solyndra "scandal." It's not about "annoying the environmentalists" per see, it's about motivating those voters who do get revved up about annoying the environmentalists. That's certainly not the only reason but it would be naïve to wave it away at this point. As the article points out, the situation we find ourselves in has been years in the making. US PV production has actually been in decline just as PV is starting to make sense.

tyingq 9y ago
>Remember the Solyndra "scandal" The rest of your comment rings true with me. Why the quotes on scandal though? It certainly didn't work out well for taxpayers. Half a billion in government loan guarantees gone. Edit: Politics aside, Solyndra falsified information on their loan application, were raided by the FBI, and skewered in an IG report. It sounds like a scandal just on their part alone.
- redblacktree 9y ago
  500m is 0.008% of the 6.5 trillion unaccounted for at the pentagon[0]. Why did we make such a big deal out of Solyndra, while overlooking a problem about 3 orders of magnitude larger? I think the scare quotes are warranted. Solyndra was only a big deal because a Democratic administration did it. [0]: http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part2 http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part2
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Trying to leave politics out of it. The FBI raid, and IG report seem to indicate "scandal" is fair. That is, on Solyndra's part.
- nate_meurer 9y ago
  Overall, it's actually worked out very well for taxpayers. The program that provided the Solyndra loans has made billions of dollars for the government, with a very low loss ratio: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-can-t-kill-solyndra-loan-program-that-outperforms-banks https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-can...