The California Energy Commission just voted unanimously to require new homes to be constructed with solar panels. Amazingly, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade organization, openly bragged about manipulating the government to force new homes to be equipped with solar panels.
“One of the more amazing things in environmental policy is how brazen solar advocates are when bragging about cronyist regulations that line their own pockets,” Todd Myers wrote in a tweet. Mr. Myers, who serves as environmental director at a free market think-tank called the Washington Policy Center, is absolutely right.
Crony capitalism is an unfortunate feature of life, but the shamelessness with which the solar industry acts is truly a sight to behold. Bill Gates could brag that the U.S. government still uses Windows, and pharmaceutical companies could boast their vaccines are so important to your health, that the government requires kids to get them before attending school. But they don’t, because it would be rather unseemly.
The solar industry, however, has no such qualms because the energy equivalent of a “health halo” follows them around. Solar power is pure and righteous, therefore, cramming it down people’s throats at a significant cost to taxpayers is not only a good thing to do, it’s the moral and ethical thing to do.
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