Those pushing green-energy policy usually make one of two arguments:
(A) You’re either with us or you’re with big, greedy business.
or
(B) Big business is on our side, so join us or hurt the economy.
It’s hilarious when the green-energy crowd tries to make both arguments simultaneously. The Center for American Progress is usually good for the occasional “corporate-shills-oppose-reforms-that-corporations-want” article (here on climate control, and here on light bulbs, for instance).
Today’s example comes from “The Energy Collective,” sponsored by Siemens and Shell, with a solar-industry consultant using the argumentum ad Kochem to blast an effort to roll back corporate welfare for the likes of Siemens and the solar industry.
First, a screen grab from the article:
Now the fun excerpts:
Got that? It’s “advocates” versus industry. Later, though, the article quotes a proponent of the subsidies:
The logic, as far as I can tell: Koch money = bad. Solar money = good.
I can’t find reporting on the position taken by Duke Energy, a huge investor in wind energy and also the dominant utility in the state. Many articles, pointing out that the bill’s sponsor is a former Duke employee, suggest Duke supported repeal of the renewable-energy standards in North Carolina.
