by Ryan Thomason

Created on: May 14, 2008   Last Updated: October 08, 2008

You would assume the obvious answer is yes, government should subsidize renewable energy.

There is only one true way to decrease the dependence on fossil fuels and that is through using renewable energy. Wind and Solar power, thanks to Investment Firms, and, honestly the mega-company GE, has been making leaps and bounds in the area of shrinking the cost of renewables. Companies have been receiving new cash flows that have allowed them to bring the technology to new levels, all without government subsidies. Just think about the possibilities of what the technology could achieve is the government was to step up and give the same kind of tax breaks and subsidies that it gives to Oil companies. The common assumption is that if that were to happen you would see more solar panels on home rooftops, people paying less on their monthly bills, and less money in big Oil pockets. Which is exactly the problem.

Without enough funding, up and coming companies don't have the sheer amount of cash to throw to lobbyist to push congressmen and women to get what they want done. This is a science that the big players have perfected over the years. It seems these days that whoever has the most money to give to lobbyist and have them woo our elected officials, real change is going to be slow to come. What it is going to take is someone with enough power in the government to shake off the lobbyist and rally enough support to subsidize renewable energy. Yes, even Ethanol, which has been getting a lot of bad looks lately because of the raising food costs.

While corn has been getting a lot of attention for ethanol use, it actually requires more oil and gas to produce it than the benefits we actually get from breaking the corn husks down into ethanol. There is a solution though, but, it is also the hardest one to tackle. Switch grass. Switch grass is big and it's tough. After a good growing season, it can stand 10 feet high, with stems as thick and strong as hardwood pencils. Switch grass has higher cellulose content for breaking down into alcohol to make ethanol, but, it is also the hardest cellulose to break down. If subsidies existed on this technology, with the increase in funding scientist can come closer and closer to finding a way to break through the cellulose wall. Because switch grass isn't really a food source, planting acres upon acres of it won't decrease the current world food supply. Our government pays enough farms to not plant crops, why not pay them to plant Switch Grass instead?

In summary, if the government were to subsidize renewable energies, it would hopefully lead to a cleaner, greener, less polluted world. While this notion may be a little far fetched, it is always worth it to dream a little. But, this nation was built on dreams, we strive on dreams, if it weren't for dreams, it wouldn't fuel the American ambition to be a leader. Without people following in their passions and dreams, we wouldn't be living in the world today. What we really need to get renewable energies subsidized, and brought to the forefront of our lives, is people with enough passion to stand up and make their voices heard.

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