In the latest installment of "Yes, this is what we voted for," we learn that the United States Department of Energy will be returning $13 billion - that's with a "B" followed by an "-illion" - to the treasury. That money was intended for "green energy" boondoggles, and now it can be spent (we hope) instead on something useful.
The U.S. Department of Energy will be returning to American taxpayers $13 billion in “unobligated wasteful spending” that was originally intended for former President Joe Biden’s climate agenda.
In response, Larry Behrens from Power the Future told The Center Square that “by returning $13 billion, the Department of Energy under President Trump is showing respect for taxpayers and a willingness to end funding for programs that don’t work.”
Power the Future is a nonprofit dedicated to Americans who work in reliable energy sources.
Behrens told The Center Square that the Department of Energy’s action “is a welcome step toward restoring accountability and letting free markets – not bureaucrats – determine our energy future.”
“The American people made it crystal clear at the ballot box that they don’t want another taxpayer dollar wastefully spent on green scam pet projects,” Behrens said.
We have seen too many of these green energy scams soak up billions already, only to fail. Indeed, their failure is as inevitable as the sunrise; these low-density energy sources, in the end, can't and won't replace high-density sources. Physics is a harsh mistress.
Read More: Huge California Solar Plant Shutting Down After Years of Failure
Climate Crusader-in-Chief Newsom Flip-Flops As Scheduled Refinery Closures Spark Panic
So, what more can be done? Well, turns out there's almost certainly more waste out there.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Heritage Foundation told The Center Square that with the return of $13 billion, “the deficit will be lower than otherwise.”
When asked what other actions the Department of Energy should take to end wasteful spending, Furchtgott-Roth said that “the Department should comb through its budget and see what projects can be accomplished by the private sector, then end those projects.”
“The Department should also look through its regulations and see which ones impose costs on businesses and families,” Furchtgott-Roth said.
“For instance, the Department should eliminate appliance regulations that prevent companies from producing the gas stoves, boilers, or water heaters that people want to buy,” Furchtgott Roth said.
The appliance regulations are particularly odious. Mandating a more expensive electric stove over a gas stove is well to the left of stupid, not to mention wasteful; the electricity for that stove has to be generated somewhere, and the laws of thermodynamics would inform us that it's more efficient to burn natural gas in a stove than it is to burn natural gas at a power plant, then to send electricity out through the lines to power an electric stove.
But then, we can't expect the green energy advocates to care much about trivialities like that when there are raptor-killing windmills to be built.
In the official press release, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright writes:
The American people elected President Trump largely because of the last administration’s reckless spending on climate policies that fed inflation and failed to provide any real benefit to the American people. Thanks to President Trump and Congress, those days are over. By returning these funds to the American taxpayer, the Trump administration is affirming its commitment to advancing more affordable, reliable, and secure American energy and being more responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.
Yep. That's what we voted for. Keep it up, Mr. Secretary, and let's authorize some more nuclear power plants while we're at it.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
Help us continue exposing Democrats' plans to lead America down a dangerous path. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.