Last Sunday, the New York Times reported on the wind energy industry in Wyoming (the eighth windiest state) and how the governor is pushing for a tax on wind energy. The wind power lobby has, of course, expressed its horror that the state would consider such a thing, practically comparing it to killing a newborn.
On this one, I am with the governor’s chief of staff, Ryan Lance, who was quoted as saying, ‘We want to make sure that wind developers pay their way in Wyoming and that the tax burden isn’t shifted to the taxpayers.’ Most of the people of Wyoming agree apparently.
Wyoming is hardly the most tax-happy state. Whatever moral and environmental rationale a person might have, it’s hard to justify a profit-seeking business not having to pay taxes because it’s more cosmically virtuous. All for-profit companies — including green energy — should pay taxes.
The lobbyist has said the wind guys will take their business somewhere else(perhaps the ninth windiest state), but this “we’ll take our toys and go elsewhere” game is the oldest in the energy book, played for decades by the oil and gas companies (among other games). It should be pointed out these companies don’t like taxes, either. But they have to pay them everywhere.
I must admit I love the irony: supporters of green energy asking for the same perks they deride in fossil fuel companies. (I’m not on their side either — I just love irony for its own sake.)
The real problem is that wind energy is barely competitive at this point. It’s just very expensive. The federal government is investing billions of dollars in grants for clean energy, although it is being outdone by China in this. (Of course, China does not have the giant natural gas fields the US can fall back on —at least, not that we know of.)
The technology is in its infancy. But it will get better. It may seem hard to believe but the giant wind turbines we are erecting will someday soon seem quaint. (Gigantic, but quaint.) Just as petroleum was of little use till the combustion engine (especially the automobile), and just as, about a hundred years ago, the cracking process made gasoline infinitely more useable, so too will wind and other green energy evolve. But the need to cut costs will be what does it.
There is no reason not to tax, that the communities around them shouldn’t profit too. Not taxing green energy companies would set a terrible and hard-to-change example.
