The nuclear industry and government officials in Japan are compatriots in what is popularly referred to as the "nuclear power village". Watchdog Nisa is known as a cushy home for Tepco officials either on the way out or the way in.

These realities suggest that the purported social benefits of policy support for renewables are illusory. Moreover, ongoing supply and price developments in the market  for natural gas are likely to weaken further the competitive position of renewable power generation.

U.S. House of Representatives hearing on tax policy impacts on the commercial application of renewable energy technology

Let’s say that you were a politican with a GM Volt and turned it into an icon of your administration. And let’s also observe that despite giving people (most of whom are wealthy) a whopping $7,500 subsidy to buy a $40,000 car, your union- and government-controlled car company couldn’t sell enough of them to justify keeping the assembly line open. What would you do?

Once again, the regulators in California have decided to lead the nation in terms of vehicle emission standards, proposing to require that 15.4 percent of all vehicles sold by 2025 must be electric cars, plug-in hybrid cars, or (currently non-existent) fuel cell cars.

There are some ideas that, no matter how often they rise and how spectacularly they fail, just won't go away. Perpetual motion machines, for example. Passive exercise machines. Diets that work. These technologies sound great in theory, but don't seem to pan out in practice. Add to the list, electric (or largely electric) cars.

Stranded costs are those costs that electric utilities permitted to recover through their rates but whose recovery may be impeded or prevented by the advent of competition in the industry.

There are no good arguments for using government coercion to force electric cars into the U.S. fleet. But there are many arguments against this crusade.