CAGW Names Senator Stabenow Porker of the Month
March 15 2012 - 3:56PM
Business Wire
Today, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, and in recognition
of the potfuls of taxpayer gold that have been squandered on
subsidizing ill-advised green energy programs, Citizens Against
Government Waste (CAGW) named Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) its
March 2012 Porker of the Month.
Sen. Stabenow was chosen for submitting amendment #1812 to S.
1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which
would have extended federal subsidies for green energy, including
alternative fueling stations, biofuels, refined coal,
energy-efficient appliances, and wind power, among others. Many of
the initiatives singled out for continued subsidies in Sen.
Stabenow’s amendment, such as the Treasury Department’s 1603
grants, the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit, and the tax
credit for Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling, were expanded or
begun as part of the $787 billion American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus).
Fortunately, the amendment was defeated on March 13 when it
garnered just 49 votes in its favor, 11 short of the 60 it
required. Taxpayers need look no further than Advanced Ethanol
Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman’s reaction to the
amendment’s failure to know that it was a win for their wallets; he
claimed that lawmakers “missed an opportunity” by failing to extend
the Cellulosic Biofuels Producer Tax Credit, which eases the way
for America’s expensive ethanol program.
Sen. Stabenow’s amendment exemplifies the public policy fallacy
gripping the Obama administration and many lawmakers, which holds
that the key to unlocking a green energy surge is simply more
taxpayer money. But as Washington Post columnist Charles Lane put
it in his March 5, 2012 column, “Advocates insist that the
government should help them crank up mass production of electric
vehicles. Once economies of scale kick in, they argue, electric
vehicles can compete…Four decades after the 1973 oil crisis, this
logic is wearing thin. Any company that figured out how to build a
practical mass-market electric car would be swimming in cash. That
no one has done so suggests we are bumping up against the limits of
nature, not just politics or economics.”
“When the stimulus originally passed, one of the biggest
concerns, beyond its exorbitant initial cost, was that supposedly
temporary programs would become permanent and waste taxpayer
dollars in perpetuity,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “Sen.
Stabenow has demonstrated that those fears were not unfounded. The
past six months have been marred by examples of the futility of
picking winners in energy markets, which already have access to
private capital. Failures at Solyndra, Ener1, Beacon, Tesla,
Amonix, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, SunPower, and others make it
obvious that the government has about as much chance of stumbling
across a four-leaf clover as it does of being successful as a
venture capitalist,” added Schatz. “Not only should these programs
not be extended, they should be terminated.”
For attempting to compound the federal government’s costly foray
into green energy investment, and doing her best to bury taxpayer
greenbacks at the end of the rainbow, Senator Debbie Stabenow is
CAGW’s March 2012 Porker of the Month.
CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to
eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.
Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers,
government officials, and political candidates who have shown a
blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.