Let Them Buy Solar

High energy prices got you down? Here's a simple, $11k solution to your problems...

(Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaking at the Sydney Energy Forum in July, 2022, to which she (surely) traveled in a solar powered spaceship. Source: Getty Images)

Bill Bonner, reckoning today from Poitou, France... 

Where do they get these numbskulls? We refer to a whole class of grifter and greaser on the Federal payroll. But today, we choose just one, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Fox News:

During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Granholm said the Democrats' $437 billion climate and health care legislation will provide thousands of dollars in tax rebates for lower- and middle-class Americans to weatherize their homes.

"If you are low income, you can get your home entirely weatherized through the expansion from the bipartisan infrastructure laws, a significant expansion — you don't have to pay for anything," Granholm said.

"If you don't qualify for the weatherization program, you will be able to, starting next year, get rebates on the appliances and equipment that will help you reduce your monthly energy bill by up to 30%," she added. "That is all about reducing costs for people."

Really? You don’t have to pay for anything? It’s all about reducing costs?

Time’s Up

People naturally want the most for their money. And if the ‘green’ alternatives really were less expensive, consumers would select them without bribes; it is only because they are more expensive (uneconomic) that the bribery is necessary. The feds are subsidizing energy sources that are inherently more costly, not less… misleading consumers about the real costs and changing how they spend their money.

So, it isn’t about ‘reducing costs for people.’ It’s about raising them. And ultimately, someone must pay the higher costs. Who? We’ll give you some time to think about it…

…

…

…time’s up.  

Corporations? Nope. Corporations only collect taxes, they don’t pay them. Like any other cost of business, higher taxes are passed along to consumers and/or shareholders. The part that goes to consumers must be paid by the same people Ms. Granholm now claims to be helping. The part paid by shareholders reduces earnings… thereby also reducing investment, jobs, and output… that is, making ‘the people’ poorer.

The rich? Are they the ones who pay? Let’s see, all legislation is ginned up by party hacks, lobbyists, insiders, and big campaign donors. Almost all of whom are relatively rich. Do you think they would propose to pay hundreds of billions of dollars so homeowners can cut their energy costs? And what about Members of Congress? Over half of them are millionaires. Would they vote for it?

Right. Happens all the time. The elected representatives of ‘The People’ put aside their own selfish interests in order to assure the well-being of the masses. Yep. That’s what democracy is all about. Sure it is.

No, dear reader… neither corporations nor the rich will pay for the IRA boondoggle. Instead, we, ‘the people,’ will. The feds will call the tune; but average citizens will pay the piper.

Which is too bad, since the feds are tone deaf. The IRA, to use the example in front of us, is a cacophony of false notes and broken rhythms. The program doesn’t take from the rich to give to the poor. It doesn’t reduce inflation. It doesn’t cut deficits. And the odds that future generations will appreciate our sacrifice – because they will enjoy better weather – are vanishingly small.

But wait… some people are already coming out ahead.  

Rotten Fruit

As Jean-Marie Le Pen put it, “ecologists are green on the outside, and pink (socialist) on the inside.” The rind may be about protecting the planet; the juicy fruit on the inside, though, goes to themselves and their friends.

The IRA provides $161 billion worth of credits for solar and wind power projects; $36 billion for electric vehicles and another $37 for manufacturing plants that run on “green” energy. Who gets the money?

AOL reports:

Clean energy stocks are the winners of the Inflation Reduction Act

“There are many facets of this bill but, EV’s and clean energy we think are going to be the two main winners based on where the dollars are being allocated,” Blackrock's US head of thematic and active equity ETFs Jay Jacobs recently told Yahoo Finance Live.

Solar companies like Sunrun (RUN) and First Solar (FSLR), as well as energy storage and software companies like Stem (STEM) are just some of the beneficiaries of the bill. STEM is up 93% since late July.

Hydrogen fuel cell developers Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) and Plug Power (PLUG) are also seen as winners.

Who owns these companies? The poor? The middle classes? Not likely. Instead, they will have to borrow money to buy their products. As Ms. Granholm tells us, those energy saving devices can be financed… so the banks and non-bank lenders get a piece of the action too. And then, ‘The People’ end up even deeper in debt, earning even less money, paying even more for almost everything – but with solar panels on their roofs!

Regards,

Bill Bonner

Joel’s Note: 40-year high inflation got you down? Can’t afford heating and energy bills? Don’t own a house to heat in the first place? No problem! Mrs. Granholm has a plan for you...

According to Forbes, the average cost to install solar panels in your home (depending on where you live and the kind of model you go for) is a mere $16,000 (though it can be as much as $35,000, on the high end.) 

Applying the government’s generous, 30% bribe subsidy green incentive, that comes to $11,200. Sure, it’s money you don’t have lying around... but that’s where going deeper into debt comes in. And why not? Take a cue from your dear leaders, dear readers. It’s not as if the federal government hasn’t demonstrated its #brave commitment to spending money it doesn’t have. 

Between January 23, 2021 and August 23, 2022 (today), the US national debt rose from $27.7 trillion to $30.7 trillion, a 11% increase in under a year and a half! 

And really, taking on an extra $11 thou in debt is the least you can do for your country... not to mention the future of biracial trans Ukrainian immigrants.

But wait... there’s more!

According to the Kelley Blue Book, the average cost of a new electric vehicle is up 13.7% year over year (and increasing at nearly 4% per month). At a cool $66,000, your shiny, new EV will set you back about $18,000 more than that selfish, baby seal-clubbing, gas-powered monster that you couldn’t afford and weren’t going to buy anyway. 

For middle-income Americans, the combined $77,200 should be considered a bargain to secure your place on the right side of histrionics. Oh, and if you’re a low-income American and don’t own a home, you can get that home you don’t own fully weatherized... for nothing! Yes, you heard that right. No home? No cost! 

This last point is key as, at the rate the economy is going, the low-income bracket is about to become the coolest, hippest, greenest place for hardworking, taxpaying Americans to be. Remember the World Economic Forum’s mantra: Own nothing, be happy. 

Keep going, citizen. You’re almost there!!