Utility scale wind power offers the best proof of this (small wind never has and never will make sense). But the indsutry (GE, Suzlon, Siemens, MHI, et al) know how to make wind power at a cost that is competitive with other forms of generation WITHOUT the subsidies. It’s done by scale-up, fewer but larger turbines that are more efficient, and increased efficiency of power conversion electronics. But they’re not going to do it while the gov’t tit makes it possible to make good money without taking that risk.
If you look at history, every time the PTC (subsidy) expires, innovation happens and the industry grows again. This is how it’s supposed to work with market forces driving innovation and reducing cost, not gummint central planning.
And when industries grow on their own based on real economics, it is sustainable growth that created good paying jobs. When temporary growth happens becasue of gov’t interference or stimulus, it’s a flash in the pan that accomplishes nothing in the long run and wastes taxpayer resources. The only “benefit” is, it helps politicians keep their jobs.
Everytime I think of green jobs , I think of a scene from a western, where the bad guy had a bunch of people down in a pit of some sort cranking a generator by hand to keep his lights on. Was that “The Good , the Bad, and he Ugly”? When the lits dimmed, he started shooting at them and they sped up.
The biggest benefit of it is that the sheeperals get to feel good about themselves as good people because they care about the erf because they support politicians who spend other people’s money on boondoggles like this.