The "big solution" being pushed by Democrats for our energy problems is to tax the living hell out of the carbon industries, and put the money into alternative energy. I'm not sure exactly what that latter part means, and if you push a Democrat on details, particularly a politician, their normal response is to dive out a window.

But if this great plan for dispensing the loot does NOT involve things like tax credits, subsidies, or other "taxpayer support" of alternative energy, then where exactly will all that money be going?

If liberals were being consistent about this, they'd be enthusiastically supporting using Federal resources for alternative energy, wouldn't they?

Don't ask me. I'm not seeing a lot of consistency here. Unless maybe the problem here is that we're talking supporting private industries instead of the leftist pipe dream of a national government-run energy monolith?

Me? I personally think the private sector will rise to the occasion without major subsidies, as long as conventional energy prices remain this high. Most of the obstacles I've seen are less a matter of "not enough money from the government" and more along the lines of the government regulators refusing to get the hell out of the way.

Still, as with almost any industry with a lot of players, there will always be those who go it on their own, and others who see it mostly as an opportunity to milk the government for goodies. The latter category can at least be minimized if the government isn't offering all the goodies in the first place.