Harry Reid - Nepotism Trumps National Solar Firms - image Heraldtribune.com
In an op-ed written by Steve Sebelius at the Los Vegas Review Journal, questions are raised about Harry Reid’s dismissal of coal powered plants in NV, and his push for a particular Chinese firm to produce green energy for Nevada. There are two issues, according to Sebelius: 1) a lack of interest by consumers (as there would be an increase in costs) and 2) Harry Reid’s son works as an attorney for the firm.
There was some backlash in comments regarding Solar Energy firms on another opinion piece in the Journal written by Sherman Frederick on the Reid – Chinese Solar Company – Reid’s son and why the need to “outsource” solar energy to a Chinese Firm. What was amazing, was that there were comments about Solyndra, ostensibly noting that the company went under because they failed to get “enough subsidies from the U.S. government”- somehow the blame lay with Mitt Romney and the Republicans. That said, the commenter was comparing apples to oranges in this case – the Chinese Firm building an energy plan, rather than manufacturing panels like the bankrupt Solyndra, but, the problem with solar panel manufactures appears to be global in nature. According to NBC news arm MSNBC -the falling prices of solar panels, globally, are pressuring U.S. companies:
(MSNBC – April 15, 2012 via Reuters)
Average selling prices for the photovoltaic modules that turn sunlight into electricity have dropped to 80 to 85 cents per watt, a decline of more than 10 percent from levels near 95 cents recorded at the end of 2011, a year that saw prices fall by about 50 percent.
Those price drops have helped boost solar sales and made solar power less dependent on subsidies to compete against fossil fuels. But they also have virtually erased profits at the major manufacturers, such as China's Suntech Power Holdings , Yingli Green Energy Holding, Trina Solar Ltd and U.S.-based First Solar.
First Solar, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer and the world's lowest-cost producer, has seen its shares drop nearly 90 percent from 2011's peak to their lifetime low at $20.02 hit earlier this month.
Global demand for solar panels grew by about 40 percent last year, but excess manufacturing capacity has created a glut of supplies that forced companies such as Suntech, Yingli, Trina and SunPower to slash prices.”
Therefore, any failure on the part of U.S. solar panel manufactures can be tied to a glut on the market for a product that no-one appears to want, not a lack of subsidies – and Harry Reid is pushing the concept at Nevada?
The Citizens of Nevada have Harry Reid on their hands until 2016, when he is up for re-election (or retires like Frank (D-MA-4) or Dodd (D-CT). Unfortunately, in his current position as the Senate Majority Leader, he also has an impact on the rest of us – that position would change, if the balance of power in the Senate moves to the Republican column – which is entirely possible in 2012. At that point Reid would be either voted, by a body of his peers” as the Senate Minority Leader, or relegated to the background as a rank and file member of the Senate. Either way he’d still have a bully pulpit to spout nonsense but less power. As a resident of a state with more corrupt politicians (Boston rivals Chicago), one is able to recognizes the “good old boy” cronyism that exists, from the state level to the federal level – and either ignore, or vote the offending “politician” out of office – or register a protest vote for a cartoon character.
No comments:
Post a Comment