puyisolar

This has been a week to remember for the Unsustainable Energy sector, the Puyi of the Carolinas.

A campaign of utter nonsense, phony free-market posing, and shameless flat-out begging (which negated the campaign’s economic nonsense and free-market posing, if anyone took the time to think about it) has succeeded wildly.

Those are the tools it takes to carry an issue in today’s North Carolina, just as it was in yesterday’s North Carolina (well, the phony free-market posing is new).

Principled, empirically sound stands for the citizens of North Carolina are no fun and don’t benefit campaign coffers or influential friends. It would just help those piddling poor people who are only useful as props and aren’t Important In Raleigh (other than to confer the title of “Representative” — you know, as being the ones whose interests are supposedly being represented).

CarolinaCronyism

Shortly after extending the thirty-five percent renewable energy tax credit for another year, North Carolina legislators today shot down in a House committee an effort to cap the renewable energy portfolio mandate.

I’ve discussed this issue frequently, making that principled, empirical, unfun, stand-for-the-poor case that a policy of least-cost, reliable energy is the state’s best policy — which as you and more importantly they well know stands in opposition to the hogwash-spouting, coffer-lining cronies’ best policy of perpetual public life support.

So here are AFP-North Carolina director Donald Bryson’s remarks:

“We’re disappointed that ratepayers could still be burdened with higher fees and bills to benefit well-connected industries under the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Energy is too important to our economy for political diversion of consumer revenue and tax funds to mandate a government preferred product.

We asked lawmakers to put people first, let companies compete and get costly government control out of the way. Instead of being able to applaud members for their leadership, Americans for Prosperity will hold them accountable by educating citizens in their districts about their vote.

I hope they do. I hope the poor, overlooked, captive ratepayers who matter just as little to this clot of politicians in Raleigh as they did to previous clots will remember as well.

I suspect they will be handed several other reasons to remember in the coming legislative days. The kind of arrogant, rampant cronyism on display this week isn’t a sudden anomaly.