US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who made his fortune by drilling holes in the Earth to access methane gas and then leaving taxpayers to clean up the mess his company made, visited the Ames National Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, to deliver a message. He said the US should mine and refine its own critical raw materials instead of letting other counties [ahem, CHINA, ahem] do it. He also said it is time to do away with all federal subsidies for wind power, according to the Des Moines Register.
While he was there to cheer on the staff at the Ames National Laboratory, Wright also had some words of wisdom he shared with the press. He said federal incentives for wind energy “have been around for 33 years, and I think you’ve seen a mature industry develop.” Wind and solar energy need to “compete in the marketplace” like every other source of energy, he claimed.
He is correct, of course. One of the bedrock principles of the MAGA movement is that government should not be picking winners and losers in the great capitalist marketplace, where Adam Smith’s unseen hand should not be influenced by favoritism in any way. At CleanTechnica, we agree completely. Let’s eliminate any and all subsidies for wind and solar — and coal, oil, and methane as well. Project 2025 is nothing if not a giant subsidy for the fossil fuel industry. Let’s get rid of that while we are at it.
Wright, of course, is not clever enough to appreciate that his wealth is a direct byproduct of government policies that rewarded the pipeline companies that carry the methane his company wrested from the ground, that allowed his drilling rigs to torture the Earth and then walk away from the damage they did. Laws that allow drillers to sell their assets to other companies who then declare bankruptcy when the bill comes due for such cleanup measures are a subsidy.
Untaxed Externalities Are Subsidies
Economic arrangements that impose no cost for the harm done to the environment by commercial activities are a subsidy. The medical cost of caring for people sickened by industrial waste from coal retention ponds are a subsidy. Relieving those responsible for pouring trillions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere of any financial responsibility for their actions is a subsidy. Economists often refer to “untaxed externalities” — costs of doing business that get passed off onto the shoulders of others. Those are all subsidies of one kind of another.
The International Monetary Fund puts those “untaxed externalities” associated with fossil fuel operations at around $5 trillion a year or more. So our question for Secretary Wright is, how much of your personal wealth attributable to those subsidies are you willing to give back to the taxpayers? His answer, of course, would be “none,” and that tells you all you need to know about his credibility.
Wright then used the opportunity to bang on his favorite drum. Climate change is a “real thing,” he said. “It’s a true physical phenomenon. But it’s just not even close to the world’s greatest problem.” Conveniently, he did not disclose what those more serious problems might be. Possibly he is with the majority of MAGAlomaniacs who think colleges and universities should be forced to teach curricula provided by Faux News.
Rare Earth And Critical Materials
Wright’s principal reason for his visit to Ames was to tout the national laboratory’s role in reinvigorating America’s ability to mine and refine rare earth minerals and other critical materials needed to win the AI race. And, oh, by the way, they also are vital to making electric vehicles and storage batteries.
“We’ve outsourced that overseas,” Wright said. “It’s become a national defense problem for us. It’s become a medical problem for us.” The Ames laboratory “is a leader in bringing these technologies and capabilities back to our country.” Wright noted there are “92 naturally occurring elements” in the periodic table and “everything we do is made up from combinations of those elements.” He has this specialized knowledge apparently because he is an engineer, which gives him deep insights into things that are opaque to lesser mortals.
