Seeing red over green energy

The story of the green light bulb made by Philips Lighting that was awarded the federal government’s $10 million “L Prize” is a telling parable of the Obama administration’s energy policies.

The prize was supposed to go to any manufacturer that could create an affordable green light bulb, but in this case the Philips LED bulb recently hit the market at a price of $50 each. It does not take a degree in economics to know that this product is not affordable — and if anything is virtually unsellable at that price — yet it was the winner picked by an administration that has all too often picked losers when it comes to all kinds of green energy companies and products.

There’s been a long list of stories about failed green investments with  common denominators — they lack market demand and they have been entirely uncompetitive with alternative products.

There was the $535 million subsidy that went to Solyndra, the now-famous company that was touted by the administration before it laid off 1,200 workers and filed for bankruptcy.

More recently, there was the bankruptcy of Beacon Power Corp., a business that received a $43 million federal loan to manufacture energy storage technology.

There was the $118 million that went to Ener1, a company that could not compete in manufacturing electric car batteries.

And earlier this month, Abound Solar announced it was laying off 300 workers and freezing plans to build a new plant after receiving a $400 million federal loan.

Those are just a few examples of flawed energy policies that chase the illusion of green energy development while ignoring real-world market realities.

Sure, exploration in alternative energy technology is a worthy pursuit, but not when the government is acting as a sort of venture-capitalism enterprise with a sorry history of success.

The transition to new energy sources and products will eventually come, but it will be led by profit-hungry investors rather than bureaucrats with a vague hope that highly expensive, uncompetitive pursuits will somehow succeed if seeded with enough taxpayer money.