Clean Energy

Clean, renewable energy is a topic that intrigues me. The idea of harnessing natural resources, like solar, water and wind powering our homes, cars, and all the other necessities of life, just seems natural. A hundred years ago, mills were powered by wind and water. We would do well to focus much of our energies on becoming more competent in this pursuit, especially in the current climate that our nation is in.
 I say competent, because in an article in the Idaho Statesman, the author, Renee Schoof of McClatchy Newspapers, poses a question: "Is U.S. losing the race to clean energy?" (Schoof, 2011, p. A1, A8). Schoof mentions that another of our country's solar-panel makers is headed for bankruptcy. Solyndra, a California solar panel maker, claims that changes to the U.S regulatory policy is to blame. Schoof writes, "Solyndra President and CEO Brian Harrison blamed the company's failure on policy changes and created oversupply and falling prices, and said it had become impossible to raise capital." (Schoof, 2011, p. A8). Schoof goes on to say that foreign competitors have claimed a large share of a growing solar-manufacturing market. According to a Department of Energy blog, the U.S. share of the solar market dropped from 43% in 1995 to 7% in 2010. "The United States was a big fish in a small pond in the 1990's, when global solar production was tiny compared with today." (Schoof, 2011, p. A8).
The article goes on to point out that Solyndra was under investigation for its use of stimulus money in 2009. This is when the company ran into financial problems and did not hire as many people as expected. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. said in a statement on Wednesday, "We smelled a rat from the onset, as the highly celebrated first stimulus loan guarantee awarded by the DOE, the $535 million loan for Solyndra was suspect from Day one." The company shut down on Wednesday and left 1100 people without jobs, and the American taxpayers with a $535 million bill.
Schoof claims that, "Solar purchases have been going up in recent years, boosted by favorable policies in Europe, Canada, China and some U.S. states. China is the biggest exporter of solar panels to the United States, followed by Mexico." Now, we are losing our shirts to foreign producers of clean energy. The DOE cited these trends in its blog post: China, which exports more solar panels to the United States than any other country, has been providing INTEREST-FREE financing to its companies. Also, European countries have been REDUCING their SUBSIDIES for solar power. Europe is the world's biggest solar market.
What can we do to become a leader again? I would like some more energy to be placed in this area, so that we are not so dependent on foreign countries. Isn't it about time that we did something that made other countries LOOK to us, and not LAUGH at us, while they pocket our money?

Reference:
Schoof, R. (2011, September 1). Is U.S. losing the race to clean energy?. Idaho Statesman, p. A1, A8.