I was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the town of Somerset recently when I was perplexed by a billboard that declared ominously, "Your tax dollars subsidize wind power."
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University will publish a paper this week in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that argues for focusing renewable energy subsidies in those areas of the nation that will yield the greatest health and climate benefits - such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Those that argue against government subsidies for wind such as former US Rep. Phil Gramm, tend to use per watt figures to make their case that wind is not a good investment, instead of overall federal and state spending that shows government subsidies have historically favored black and not green energy sources. The per watt figures that detractors use tend to ignore life cycle costs associated with subsidizing fossil fuels. For example, Gramm's figures do not account for the total cost to society of choosing coal over wind, such as the billions that will be needed to treat abandoned post-mining acid discharges, the lost recreational revenue because 5,000 miles of streams have been polluted by mining throughout the mid-Atlantic region, and the numerous health care costs of dirtying the air that our children breathe. The detractors also fail to account for the major economic benefits that would result from drastically reducing CO2 emissions by eliminating fossil fuel subsidies worldwide.
The researchers at Carnegie Mellon point out that wind and solar provide identifiable health benefits that should be considered and maximized by targeting government subsidies for renewables in areas of the country where clean energy would yield the greatest benefit to society.
This blog previously argued for a "health revenue" policy in Pennsylvania that recognizes the disparate effects of carbon-based fuels and renewables. That would allow a more descriptive billboard to read, "Your tax dollars subsidize less asthma attacks for your children and less heart attacks for your grandparents."
