How's That Energy Policy Working Out?

Every Chevy Volt Subsidized to the Tune of $250,000

If you’ve been revolted by the fact that every $40,000 electric Chevy Volt sold by Government Motors enjoys a $7,500 rebate at the expense of taxpayers, then better have some Dramamine before you read any further. James Hohman of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has calculated that the total subsidies—direct and indirect, federal and state—poured into this white elephant could add up to $3 billion or $250,000 for every Volt sold to date. And this is not counting the 26 percent ownership that Uncle Sam still has in the company.

For 250 k you could get one really expensive car, or a bunch of just sort of expensive cars...

Another Solar Subsidy Goes Bust, $2.1 Billion (with a B) Subsidy Down the Tubes, to a German Company

A new solar plant in Blythe, Calif., received a $2.1 billion stimulus grant, despite the fact that the project was awarded to a German firm, Solar Millennium and its U.S. subsidiary, Solar rust of America. Similarly, he reports the Energy Department gave out $1.45 billion in loan guarantees to Abendgoa Solar, a Spanish company building plants in California and Arizona.

Solar Millennium said today it has begun insolvency proceedings, the second German solar manufacturer to do so this month.

The company has been trying to sell its pipeline of large-scale concentrating solar projects in the U.S. But because Solar Millennium was not able to negotiate desired terms, it had to enter into insolvency to "save existing assets," the company said in a statement.