Dave, I agree with you in that I have an issue with government subsidies and tax credits, because those mostly encourage pork barrel spending or influence peddling without accomplishing anything. However, I do think that achieving energy independence–or more modestly, reducing dependence on foreign oil–is an important issue on both environmental and national security grounds. There should be a serious debate about how to get there, and certainly talking about reducing regulations rather than doling out subsidies is part of that debate. But I often find that because the idea of alternative energy is associated with liberal environmental groups, conservatives are overly dismissive of the whole concept of altogether. And I think that’s a big mistake.
