Feed: US goes after China for subsidizing Wind Power? - AggScore: 12.6

US goes after China for subsidizing Wind Power?

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The complaints against the Chinese seems to focus on protectionism more than subsidies per se, but still it is pretty ironic that the Obama administration, which has given huge subsidies to wind power in the US, would complain about a hrefhttponline.wsj.comarticleSB10001424052748704774604576035812004068144.htmlmodWSJhpLEFTWhatsNewsCollectionChinas subsidiesa.blockquoteThe U.S. said Wednesday it is requesting consultations with China at the World Trade Organization to end hundreds of millions of dollars of subsidies to boost windpower production. . . .Chinas Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that China is highly concerned about the U.S. invoking dispute settlement procedures at the WTO. China will study the U.S. request for talks and handle it in accordance with WTO rules on dispute settlement, while reserving Chinas relevant rights, the ministry said without elaborating.In the past, Chinese officials have called the unions complaints groundless and irresponsible.The U.S. says wind energy is the fastestgrowing sector in Chinas renewableenergy market, which overall is expected to reach 100 billion by 2020. Chinese windturbine makers now rank among the top 10 producers globally, and foreign companies share of the Chinese market has been slashed to 13 from 79 in the past five years, according to Goldman Sachs. . . .blockquoteJust one recent note on the a hrefhttponline.wsj.comarticleSB10001424052748704368004576027310664695834.htmlmodWSJOpinionLEFTTopOpinionsubsidies to windpower in the USa.blockquoteAlas, market forces ruined the Pickens Plan. Mr. Pickens should have shorted wind. Instead, he went long and now hes stuck holding a slew of turbines he cant use because low natural gas prices have made wind energy uneconomic in the U.S., despite federal subsidies that amount to 6.44 for every 1 million British thermal units BTUs produced by wind turbines. . . .. . . The place where it works best is with natural gas at 7.That may be true. But on the spot market natural gas now sells for about 4 per million BTUs. In other words, the freemarket price for natural gas is about twothirds of the subsidy given to wind. Yet wind energy still isnt competitive in the open market.Despite winds lousy economics, the lame duck Congress recently passed a oneyear extension of the investment tax credit for renewable energy projects. That might save a few green jobs.But at the same time that Congress was voting to continue the wind subsidies, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs reported that property tax breaks for wind projects in the Lone Star State cost nearly 1.6 million per job. That green job ripoff is happening in Texas, Americas biggest natural gas producer. . . .blockquote