Solar is a libertarian dream. The utility companies that states like Oklahoma are scrambling to protect are cozy government-protected monopolies (though eventually they too will survive by switching to solar). Rooftop solar offers a chance for independent homeowners to free themselves from reliance on a collectivist system. And solar is a triumph of human ingenuity, the kind of advance that Julian Simon believed would always save us from “limits to growth” – in the long run, oil and coal and gas will run out, but cheap solar will sustain capitalism.
Pointer from Mark Thoma. I agree that as innovations continue to bring about reductions in the relative cost of solar power, many benefits will ensue. Still, I believe that the Department of Energy’s loan guarantees to solar companies (and others) were not good policy, and certainly not libertarian in spirit. I am interested in engaging with those who would criticize such a belief. I am not interested in engaging the theory that conservatives, because of their evil nature, are opponents of solar power.
By the way, as I read the table in Timothy Taylor’s post, solar power does not come across as particularly inexpensive in the near future. And you should also read this earlier Timothy Taylor post:
When a technological standard is required, then firms which could have reduced pollution more cheaply are not allowed to gain a competitive advantage from doing so–because all must follow the prescribed standard.
Read the whole post, which describes the tendency for environmental regulation to become less about reducing pollution and more about restricting competition.
I propose that we try to eliminate from discussions of public policy related to solar and nuclear energy any arguments that are based on sentiment, wishful thinking, or rent-seeking. Everybody police their own side.