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Are Solar Panels Bad for the Environment?

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  • Description

    The Cato Institute’s Pat Michaels on the environmental impact of solar panels.

  • Duration 4:18
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Hi this -- highs new evidence that solar energy -- green as you think.

The Associated Press reports transporting hazardous waste created in the manufacturing process actually adds significantly to the carbon -- right.

Who -- there's hazardous waste right that -- a lot of agreement.

Edited Solarz -- supposed to offer.

-- -- I mean -- tell me more.

Well there's -- cat BM.

Liquid waste that occurs in the production of solar panels a lot of -- -- gallium arsenide.

That would be as in arsenic remember when President Bush was -- excoriated because he wanted to poisonous by putting.

Arsenic in our water supply gap solar panels -- a lot of toxic stuff.

So they don't produce a lot of power we forgot about that -- you -- how green they are not very anybody who invest -- -- loses money well.

Meaning that if you look at this specifically -- mean at this report I thought.

Was amazing because.

They -- they had -- day is seen as a university professor who was talking environmental studies.

Who was talking about the fact -- would take three months to generate enough electricity.

To pay off the energy costs and transport hazardous waste away from this one project.

So it's like you you making these things and -- create so much hazardous waste in just making them that you can't throw it anywhere you have to take it to a specific site.

And in doing that you're burning all this gasoline driving and driving and driving all these pounds of hazardous waste somewhere and yet -- be hold.

When somebody's calculating how fantastic these solar panels are they don't take that into account.

Yet nobody seems to remember that some of the solar panel producers go bankrupt.

Like Solyndra.

In also -- -- 500 million dollars.

They were bragging that they -- produce enough solar panels for.

100000.

Homes that's you know what overhead probably about a hundred dollars a home out of the taxpayers.

Ten who's gonna cart away the jobs when the companies bankrupt.

No I mean that's that's one of the things that I think most people haven't heard about the -- they know the name they know that it took a lot of taxpayer dollars -- -- what they don't know is that it produces about twelve point five billion pounds.

-- hazardous waste.

While it was spending in losing all of our money well yeah.

-- and then there's the larger picture of just losing money in general you know if you really wanted to lose money.

Like say 95%.

Of your investment -- should've invested in a basket of solar energy stocks a few years ago.

There's a solar energy fund Guggenheim solar trust.

It's at thirty dollars a share that sounds good except they just had a one for ten share split because it was -- -- You -- get it.

Eight I wonder if we need to create some sort of standard were -- we're at least accounting for these things in the same way you know we talk about wind energy.

Or solar or natural gas or coal or -- clear.

Where you're forced to calculate the total carbon footprint you -- way it -- Lotta people say this about wind turbines as well.

You know when you're making -- wind turbine do you taken to -- how much energy -- -- To create that giant turbines and how much can -- -- to move it to trying to get to work its lifespan I mean do we need to may be establish some sort of standard.

What we're taking these sort of things into account what -- quantifying.

How much carbon emissions are being saved by them.

Melissa you know how to stop all this pollution.

Stop subsidizing.

It.

The president's there in the state of the union message talking about you know all gas -- cheaper than it was.

We ended sadder if you took the federal money away.

There'd be no pollution from these things because they wouldn't exist there they go bankrupt and you know -- -- we use natural gas which produces half.

The carbon dioxide Nicole does when it produces electricity.

And -- and we would explore -- we would exploit it.

And we wouldn't have the pollution.

Well it into anything peoples have all the facts when they're making a decision about what it exactly as the most effect -- energy -- Weber what Kermit the Frog said.

-- ain't easy being green.

That might -- indicator it into your biggest ever for coming on and have a great weekend by -- -- let's.

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