Fox Business
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

U.S. Solar Boom or Bust?

Details

  • Description

    AEI resident scholar Kenneth Green on the cost of creating energy jobs.

  • Duration 3:29
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Energy

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

Since President Obama took office in 2009 the government has spent over five billion dollars in your tax dollars.

On the solar industry so is money well spent here's what President Obama said at a campaign event last week.

Now my opponents.

Renewable energy sources are imaginary.

The -- here in Toledo manufacturing solar panels might disagree with the.

Yeah -- -- -- we spent on these jobs and what are they worth joining me now is Kenneth green resident scholar at eight EIA he has over twenty years of energy and environmental policy experience.

Let me ask you -- since 2009.

The government has spent five point 49 billion dollars in the solar industry and they've created about 70000.

Jobs -- -- nine map it's about.

Roughly 80000 dollars a job do you think that was worth that.

Well no since economically is not providing a net benefit.

The thing is on the government creates jobs you can only do it by taking money out of the productive private sector elsewhere.

And so what they really do is -- transfer money from point a to point B to create different jobs and they take their cut along the way.

So invariably you lose jobs on net when the government intervenes in the market.

There -- really seeing article in the Wall Street Journal that was saying that for all of this -- for that we've been putting into the solar industry that more than half the solar panels that are used around the world in this country -- it ends up they're coming from China sort of no matter what we do does that matter.

Well it matters but it's also not surprising at all -- anyone who thought that with China's lower manufacturing costs and lower environmental standards.

And that the US is -- out compete China on the cost of solar panel manufacturing.

They were living in a fantasy land that was never going to happen.

It matters because of course we were sending dollars to China that we don't need to be -- jobs being created in China rather than here.

With those same dollars so -- certainly matters but anyone who's for pretend to be surprised is suggest that pretend.

On the other hand they made the point that even though these panels are manufactured in China they're creating a lot of really good jobs here in the U last.

Installing them as more and more people demand them what you think about that argument.

Well it's probably -- the jobs installing solar panels are created normally you know if somebody makes something cheaper than we can -- here.

You want to buy when it makes economic sense so we -- Smartphones from China and Asia as well.

But it doesn't make economic sense of putting solar panels because at the end of the day the only reason homeowners install -- more businesses install them is because the huge tax.

-- -- Yes -- -- not -- -- going next with that yeah I would be happy about this and makes more economic sense of were buying cheaper panels from China were using labor appeared to install them.

And the whole thing is getting cheaper but at the end of the day.

It still doesn't make more economic sense -- getting your energy from natural gas and people wouldn't do it.

Unless they were getting a huge subsidy from -- the taxpayer through the government.

That's exactly right look you give me five million dollars in subsidies and I'll build you -- buggy whip industry that has amazing growth rates at least until I run out of your money and come back for more.

And that's what's likely to happen with the wind and solar power sector and already is happening with -- sector they're coming back looking for more money in more -- and more handouts and more guaranteed.

High price purchase rates and and contracts.

Though the thing is you know the subsidy eventually run out and and that they -- what you should look like a good investment is no longer of investment.

Can green.

Thanks for coming on appropriately there you have always -- always a -- -- subsidies for buggy -- that was bring it yeah good point careful.

Load More