June 3, 2008

Leap of logic in call for wind energy tax credits

"[Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius] said the federal government should accelerate wind power goals, and renew tax credits for renewable energy to decrease climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions."

There is a gaping hole in the logic there. The stated goal is "to decrease climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions".

But the tax credits are demanded for wind power. It is unspoken but assumed that wind power achieves the carbon dioxide goal. But that is unproven and untested. It is a false premise.

The tax credits should be to support the goal: "to decrease climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions". If wind power achieves that goal, then it would benefit.

Instead, the credits are designed to favor a specific industry, whether or not it actually contributes to the stated goal, and at the expense of other -- possibly more effective -- means of achieving the goal.

tags: wind power, wind energy, wind turbines, wind farms, environment, environmentalism