We are having a difficulty keeping a straight face even writing this post. We hope the Denver Post also had a tough time not laughing when publishing its piece titled, “Demise of Colorado Energy Office Could Slow Innovation.” Since when has government delivered anything close to innovation? (Answer: Never.)
Nonetheless, it sounds like representatives from Tesla paid the Denver Post editorial board a visit because Post editorial writer, Megan Schrader, just wrote a screed on why the Colorado Energy Office helps innovation and cited all the cool stuff Tesla is working on. Or, maybe not, and she’s just an avid fan of Tesla. Nonetheless, her piece raised the question – should Tesla be subsidized so heavily by taxpayers? Will this actually deliver innovation?
We asked the expert on this topic, the Independence Institute’s Amy Oliver, who has been on a one-woman march against what she calls subsidies for millionaires in the form of tax subsidies for green industries. Here’s what she said about it:
“Setting aside the immorality of having low income taxpayers subsidize rich people’s home building habits, if the Denver Post – and anyone else for that matter – really cares about expensive Tesla roof tiles, then advocate for getting government out of the way. Taxpayers have been subsidizing new energy economy technology for quite a while. Time to take off the training wheels. We should stop the perverse incentives that prop up not-yet-ready-for-prime-time technology, and allow these products to compete in a free market. The best products at the best price will win, to the benefit of all Coloradans, not just those who can afford $50,000 worth of Tesla roof tiles.
“Milton Friedman was right when he said, ‘The greatest advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science and literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.'”
In fairness to Schrader, she did acknowledge that nobody would miss the Energy Office. But we did think of one group that might miss this boondoggle – the many folks who mistakenly received $252 million that was missing or misappropriated from the Colorado Energy Office.
As for the rest of us? Nah, not so much.