Talking with the neighbors

We invited some friends and neighbors over this weekend to talk about the solar panels and test drive the Volt.  We had about 15 people stop by.  Hopefully this sort of word of mouth event will help build buzz and momentum for solar panels and electric cars so that they are not just a novelty.   We hope that as more people buy electric cars and install solar panels we can become part of a strong constituency that can lobby for more support for renewable energy, electric cars, and plug-in stations and at the same time stop the subsidies for oil, gas, and coal.  Speaking of which, here is a graphic showing how much our federal priorities need to be reversed from supporting deadly fossil fuels to life affirming renewable energy.  For starters, we need to vote out any congressperson who denies global warming--i.e. the Koch Industries Tea Party zealots.

A study released by the Environmental Law Institute, a nonpartisan research and policy organization, shows that the federal government has provided substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewables. Subsidies to fossil fuels totaled approximately $72 billion over the seven-year study period, while subsidies for renewable fuels totaled $29 billion over the same period. e vast majority of subsidies support energy sources that emit high levels of greenhouse gases when used as fuel. Moreover, just a handful of tax breaks make up the largest portion of subsidies for fossil fuels, with the most significant of these, the Foreign Tax Credit, supporting the overseas production of oil. More than half of the subsidies for renewables are attributable to corn-based ethanol, the use of which, while decreasing American reliance on foreign oil, has generated concern about climate effects.ese figures raise the question of whether scarce government funds might be better allocated to move the United States towards a low-carbon economy.

For press inquiries contact Brett Kitchen at 202-939-3833. Full report text and pdf of this graphic may be found online at:

http://www.eli.org/pressdetail.cfm?ID=205 ©Environmental Law Institute.